Return of the Weird Wolf: Missionista!
by Authenti
Summary: This is the end of something, and yet it's a beginning too. You can try to impress someone, but they're above you. You don't mind. You have a feeling they secretly appreciate it. You don't have to have read the original Weird Wolf to understand this one!
1. Ch1: Bad News?

A familiar shape – hooded, yet somehow familiar – blurred, then solidified properly on the hull of the Condor. Immediately, the figure stumbled backwards and fell to its knees, then twisted round to grab at a loose edge of panelling. The Condor kept moving, which didn't help matters, and the wolf tumbled backwards, fluffy tail over furry muzzle, until she fell off the back of the ship entirely.

Luck, fortunately, tended to be on her side. A _lot_. She fell straight onto the open runway, and the Storm Hawks, about to depart, swerved around her. Finn's skimmer slid right off the edge. He righted it in mid-air and flew back, screeching to a halt beside the wolf creature…

"Oh my gosh. Oh. _My gosh._ Authenti!! It's really you!" yelled Piper, barrelling into the wolf and giving her a hug that could probably shatter bones. Junko was next. Authenti decided that a hug from a Wallop was infinitely worse than one from Piper.

"And hello to you too, Storm Hawks. Wow, Aerrow, you're taller!" she grinned, showing a quick flash of pearly white flesh-rending fangs.

"Uh… really?" He looked self-conscious, thinking about whether or not to go check with a tape measure.

"No, not really." He looked disappointed, but she gave him no time to answer back. "Ok. I'm here for a reason. I should have teleported right into the bridge, but Stork must have blocked the place from teleport crystals. Anyway, as it happens, I've spent a lot of time in Cyclonia recently."

The Storm Hawks subconsciously leaned in, wanting to hear the full story.

"Any news?" Piper looked hopeful. Authenti shook her head and laughed softly.

"Haha, no way. You know I don't share information like that. You wouldn't like it if I went and told the Dark Ace all about your latest battle plans, would you?" They shrugged. She'd been here before, several times – and they had expected an answer like that. No matter how much they pressed her, she'd never reveal any information that they could use against the Cyclonians. It was infuriating, but she could be more stubborn than Finn when he wanted 'one last go' on a carnival ride at Terra Neon.

"Well, you were going to say something. Don't get sidetracked again."

"Shut up, Finn." She chuckled. "Ok. Basically I heard about the Dark Ace and the… incident… with the, er. The power suit."

Junko nodded. "He went crazy! It was horrible, there were huge stamp marks all over the place where he'd gone round smashing stuff."

Authenti gave a sagely tip of the head. "Well, I was…" She hesitated. "I was worried about that. I shouldn't be saying anything about this to you guys, but… Master Cyclonis is too. At least, I think."

The group froze. "Master Cyclonis is _worried _about something?"

"Haha! She didn't say so out loud. But the Dark Ace has gotten her out of a lot of scrapes. In a way, she relies on him a little more than she'd let on even to herself. But the thing is… he's gone missing."


	2. Ch2: Is anything NOT immoral?

"Missing?" Stork twitched, edging to one side. "What kind of missing? Eaten-by-a-monster missing, or mysteriously-vanished missing?"

"Well, that's where things get hazy. I don't know of anyone launching a vendetta against him personally, and it's highly unlikely that he'd let himself be eaten by a wastelands inhabitant. So we can rule out the idea that he's dead. I think the only way we can find him is by looking in one of two places: the Wastelands, or beyond charted Atmos. I've already searched most of the known Atmos, so-"

"Wait, wait, wait. You said 'we'. The only way 'we' can find him. I'm assuming you mean _us._" Stork narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. She stared calmly back, nodding once. "You want the second-generation Storm Hawks to find a first-generation _traitor _and then ship him safely back to Cyclonia itself in a neat little box, presumably wrapped in pink ribbon and sprinkled with confetti."

Authenti turned to Aerrow, smiled in a way that was so fantastically, incomprehensibly _nice_ that upon seeing it you'd want to retreat into a corner, curl up into a ball and _not take your eyes off her __**ever**__ because if you did she'd do something, oh yes, you wouldn't know what but she'd do something horrible…_

"Not cool, man. Snap out of it." Stork prodded the Sky Knight's shoulder and inspected his neck for paralysing bites, then stared at his pupils to watch for changes. Aerrow gave an involuntary shudder and paced over to the window to stare out of it with an unblinking, glazed expression.

"Ah. Sorry. I can be a bit creepy sometimes. Anyway, yes, Stork. That's pretty much the plan."

Stork shook his head, smirking, then paused as a horrible realisation dawned on him. The others were actually having to _think_ about whether or not to turn the wolf's suggestion down. She… she was joking, right?

Authenti did not look like she was joking.

"Look. You're Storm Hawks. If you were sky pirates, you'd have every excuse to say no. But you're not. For goodness' sake, you're led by a Sky Knight."

"I'm not seeing your point here," Finn looked sceptical.

"Think of it this way. You fight for justice, but in doing so you wouldn't actually kill anyone to do it. It's not how the laws work in Atmos. For instance, you'd blow up an entire battleship with living, breathing people aboard – but you wouldn't slash the parachutes." She stopped talking for a moment to let this sink in, then resumed with renewed vigour. "If the Dark Ace is out there somewhere, he's completely alone. No one else has disappeared from Cyclonia at the time he left, and the rest of Atmos is against him as far as we know. If by any chance he _is _within Atmosian territory, then he is at the mercy of the sky police or whatever system of law you people have. That's fine. But if he's outside of Atmos… to put it bluntly, he could be _dead_."

Junko swallowed hard. They all looked uneasy, and there was a long silence in which they contemplated the matter.

"…But… the Dark Ace is a Cyclonian," Finn stuttered, trying to keep hold of his side of the argument.

"No. Authenti's right." Aerrow turned back to the group, face solemn. "No matter where someone's from, we wouldn't deliberately kill them. And now that Authenti has shown up and told us about this, she's _made _it our business."

"Thanks a lot, mutt," Finn muttered. She shot him a playfully sarcastic glance.

"I agree with Aerrow," Piper added quietly. "I think."

"As hard as it'll be to put effort into helping out an enemy who has been a serious threat to Atmos, it'd still be immoral not to try."


	3. Ch3: Keep your eyes on the road!

The Dark Ace swung to the side, narrowly avoiding the snapping pair of jaws that threatened his life. He launched himself at his skimmer, revving the engine and opening it up to full capacity. Reinforced tyres screeched, the beast struck again – and he was off, his skimmer's landing switch-over system damaged but nonetheless he was safe – for now.

Hours later, he was tiring. The Wastelands had been a good idea at first, but the worm creatures had picked up his scent faster than he'd thought. So… where else? He reached for the map, but suddenly, out of the mist, something huge loomed. Metallic. He could tell because he was too late to stop his skimmer smashing into it. A sickeningly loud _snap. _Then blackness, the horrible stomach-lurching feeling of gravity fading away to nothing. He didn't know which was worse.

-

"Good news, everyone. At least… I assume you'll call it good news." Stork looked disgusted. "See that ship up ahead?" He pointed. Aerrow and Piper, who were in the room at the time, pressed up to the window to see better through the fog. "It just sent out a distress call."

"That's _good_ news?" Piper retorted, confused.

"No. The good news is, they reported a nasty scuff on the hull that almost broke right through. It's too small to be anything but a skimmer, but there's only one skimmer that would cause any damage to a hull like that."

They looked at each other, going pale.

"You don't think…?"

"Ohh, I _think_ alright."

Authenti burst into the room. "I was listening outside, like right up to the door, because I'm weird, and anyway how long ago was the distress call sent out? I want the full details and if it really was the Dark Ace's skimmer which seems likely – and if it was like five seconds ago then chances are he'll still be falling ok no seriously guys tell me-" She continued, but no one was really listening. She knew this but she didn't seem to mind much.

"Never give her access to the espresso machine in the kitchen, _ever _again," Aerrow hissed to Piper. She looked sheepish. "Authenti. Shut up." He commanded irritably.

"The distress call was originally sent out as a pulse signal, set off about half an hour ago. If whoever it was didn't manage to stay on their ride…" Stork trailed off.

"How far off is the ground from here?" Authenti barked.

"What, you mean the Wastelands? Geez, about thirty thousand feet. We're pretty high up."

"Get me a parachute."

-

Authenti rolled over, clamping her jaws shut against the roaring winds. She'd never done real skydiving before. Not like this. But it was fun, she had to admit.

The wolf burst through the bottom of the clouds, tail streaming behind her, and stared determinedly at the ragged patchwork of reddish lava and scorched black terrain below, searching it for any sign of – there! Something glinted red as she spun round a little, changing her view. The lava's crimson glare was bouncing off something shiny. She could only hope it was what she was looking for.

Racing closer to the ground, she tugged hard on the cord at her side, deploying her parachute and accidentally winding herself when it ripped at her torso with the sudden air resistance. She felt sick, but she managed to keep presence of mind to pull slightly on her right, guiding the parachute's path towards the speck of metal that she'd seen before.

Eventually, after what seemed like an age, her grey-furred paws touched down on hot ground. The parachute kept catching updrafts – it was a bumpy and drawn-out landing… but eventually she managed to run to a halt before she ran over a patch of molten rock.

She removed her parachute and folded it up as tight as she could, tucked it under her arm, and turned around to face the wreckage.


	4. Ch4: Target Acquired! Begin Tomfoolery!

Only, she couldn't see much. At that moment, Radarr leapt at her face and clung on like glue. Probably spooked by somethi- "WAIT. YOU WERE ON THE CONDOR."

"Rrreeow!"

Authenti glared at the fluff in her face, then reached up and prised him off her with two paws. Dropping him straight onto the floor, he let out a chirrup of dismay and leapt right onto her shoulder again.

"Ground too hot for you? Aww – no, shut up, focus. How the hell did you get down here?" She couldn't stay angry at the little blue furball for long. He was giving her the Look. You know, the one that every small, furry animal learns to use when they want something.

"Zz-chik?"

"No."

"Chrr."

She glanced at her parachute. "But I was _using_ this. There is no possible way for you to have hidden in it."

Radarr shrugged, made the closest sound to a whistle that he could manage, and stared at the wreckage Authenti had forgotten about. She followed his line of sight, and winced.

It was the Switchblade Elite, all right. It took her a moment to figure this out, but the colours and the sheer build of the thing were enough for her to put two and two together. Still, it was in terrible shape. Despite its one-of-a-kind armour, the heavy vehicle had been smashed beyond recognition.

Authenti's wolfish ears lay flat back on her head. If this was the state of his sky-ride, she hated to think what might have become of him. Her tail curled as if to hide between her legs, but she was too reserved to let herself look ruffled. Her bushy grey tail straightened out again, she flicked her long, metallic, sky-blue hair back over her shoulders, and after a deep breath of scorching Wastelands air she strode over to the pile of scrap metal.

Actually, now that she was close, it looked salvageable. She didn't have the technical prowess. She knew nothing of mechanics. But it still looked like a sky ride, despite bits of it being scattered around.

The wolf turned her attention to the surrounding landscape. The searing heat made everything blurry…

"Chrrk! _Chrrrrk_!"

Authenti looked at the… hmm. Okay, no, never mind. She looked at Radarr. Who here can answer what the hell he is anyway?

The fuzzy _thing_ seemed to be pointing at something. Authenti focused where he was pointing. Something was there, all right. Like a discoloured patch in the landscape. No. It was more like… a parachute?

Authenti sprang over a patch of magma, Radarr clinging to her neck for dear life, and sprinted the rest of the distance to the parachute. Sure enough, it had the Cyclonian insignia printed on it… she lifted the edge of the fabric carefully.

"…_Argh_…"

"Hm. I'm not a doctor, but I think you're a bit broken."


	5. Ch5: Knockout

He was pressed up against something. Everything hurt. More so his side than anything else, and his head… and his shoulder… screw this, he didn't want to decide what was more painful. The light changed. Brighter. A muffled, confusing sound that somehow righted itself into words.

"…_think you're a bit broken._"

"Wha-?" Gravity prodded him, made him realise he was lying on his front, on the ground. Rocks were digging into him. He tried to sit up, tried to see what was going on. Something shifted painfully and he fell back down again, groaning.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You're a loner who lies about whether it hurts and tries to press on regardless of suffering. Stop wiggling around or you'll do more damage, ya headstrong fool." Something fluffy, tickling his face. His hand connected with the ground, and he levered himself out of the way of the wolf's annoying tail. She turned round, saw that she was bothering him, and turned all the way so that her tail was well away from him.

"…Ouch," the Dark Ace hissed involuntarily, pressing his free hand to his chest. Lifting it to his face, through blurred vision he realised it was covered in blood.

The wolf bit her lip. She had no medical knowledge. Wishing Risk was here would do no good – her scaly lizard friend was an expert doctor, but had a nasty habit of vanishing a lot; sometimes for months at a time.

"Ok, look, you're not going to be able to move much. Just stay still for the time being." Authenti decided not to tell him that help was on the way, as she had a prediction that he'd take it as an insult that he'd ever actually require aid. She was usually right as far as her ideas about personalities went.

Looking for something useful to do, Radarr grabbed the parachute from Authenti and hopped to the ground, squeaking irritably as the hot ground met his paws. He shuffled the folded-up fabric under the Cyclonian's head, then leapt back onto Authenti's leg and climbed from there to the hop of her head. She growled at him.

"Where… what did you do to me?" the Dark Ace demanded, immediately trying to pin the blame on this stranger.

"_You_ were flying through a notoriously misty sector, your navigation systems must have bugged up, and you slammed right into a merchant ship. You're in the Wastelands right now." She gave him a thorough look over, then turned her attention to his torn parachute. "Do all Cyclonians have parachutes that automatically deploy?" she asked, tilting her head to one side inquisitively.

He looked her in the eye with a look of deep-seated suspicion, and answered her in an icy tone. "Two minutes of freefall, and they release. Cyclonian technology. I'm afraid I can't give a demonstration," he added, smirking, then winced and let himself drop back down onto the makeshift pillow. "Wait… do I… know you?" He glared at her with a mixed expression – disdain and discomfort were the two most obvious, but Authenti sensed real confusion in there somewhere.

"You must have hit your head pretty hard. Ya, you've seen me before. I think you mistook me for a Blizzarian at first, but the name Authenti is pretty well known among the Cyclonians now."

He jerked upwards, ignoring the spike of pain that ripped through his body. "Authenti?"

"Ah, here they come." She shielded her eyes and squinted into the sky. A familiar horn noise blared out, and she flattened her ears in annoyance. "I swear, I am going to kill Stork when I see him. He knows I hate that noise."

"_Oh, no._ You're not actually telling me _they're_ coming to rescue me, are you?" He made an attempt to get up, but the pain became too great. He managed to get to his knees, though. "Tell them to turn round and leave. I'd rather be eaten by a-"

"Fire worm," Authenti stated calmly. She then pointed at the fire worm that was snaking along the ground some way off. "Fire worm."

Radarr chirped worriedly.

"Fire worm," she repeated, and strolled off to a safe distance from the Dark Ace and leapt up and down, yelling unintelligible nothings to the approaching Condor.

A bolt of blue energy crackled past barely a hair's breadth away, and sent the fire worm packing. A skimmer zoomed by less than a second later, circled round, and the red-headed teen nodded in recognition to Authenti. He acknowledged his enemy with a look of restrained contempt, then flew back to the Condor. Moments later, the huge ship was hovering overhead, engines whirring loudly.

Authenti stood where she was, and waited for it to land. It didn't. Piper's heli-scooter purred out of the hangar and came to a rest nearby.

"Sorry, Auth! The Condor can't land in the wastelands. Not here, anyway. This area is too covered with lava, and Stork says that it's hot enough to melt the hull. We can't take that chance, so…"

"Paralyser stone?"

"Present," Piper called back, throwing one to her. She caught the small, glowing blue rock, and took careful aim at the Dark Ace. For a split second, he looked almost like a deer caught in the headlights, and then he was out cold.

"I think it worries him what we might do now that he's unconscious." Piper regarded the underside of her heli-scooter with a concerned glance, and Authenti took the hint. "Can't stay here long, huh?" She carefully picked up the unconscious warrior, wrinkling her nose at the stench of blood, and padded over to the vehicle with a steady, balanced gait to avoid any risk of harming him further. "It's a wonder that he managed to land on top of half of his parachute. His armour is all charred where he's been lying on it. Speaking of which, my feet hurt. Room for three?"


	6. Ch6: Muttering Sour Nothings

Authenti sat massaging the pads on her feet, which had cracked slightly in some places from contact with the direct heat of the Wastelands terrain. Occasionally she would cease her fidgeting and focus on the motionless figure in the bed, only for her muzzle and tail to droop, a yawn to be given and then a violent shake of the head to keep herself awake.

Finn passed by the door, giving an innocent peep into the room that was always met by a fiery, determined glare from the wolf's bright orange eyes.

"Auth. Seriously. Are you ok? You've been sitting there for two days."

"This isn't how it ends," she mumbled.

He shot her a worried glance. "Uh, what?"

"I have to keep the continuity. Have to…" Her head dropped again, and she almost fell off her chair. The shift in balance woke her up, and she shook herself.

Finn slowly edged away from the door. He was relieved when Piper arrived to take over his shift.

-

Light. Lots of light. He blinked away the glare, forced himself to focus. Where was he?

Rivets on the ceiling. Not his quarters back at Cyclonia, then. A shift in gravity, maybe in speed. He slowly began to notice the dull hum of engines.

"S-Storm Hawks!" he gasped, his senses returning to him in an overwhelming flood. "Authenti! Where am I!?" he demanded, shooting the sleepy wolf a look of unbridled hatred.  
She woke up properly, rousing herself from her quiet haze of thoughts. "…Er, what? Huh. Oh, right. I think we're right near where Polaris Pointe used to be."

Piper rushed in, pressing a button on an object that resembled a walkie-talkie. She clipped the item back onto her trusty staff, and stood by the only door into the small room.

"Dark Ace," she said coldly. "It was all Authenti's idea to come find you. She can explain it all herself later. But right now-"

"Right now," the Cyclonian interrupted, "I want you to leave. I will deal with Authenti here in private. Do I make myself clear?"

The wolf in question rolled her eyes and stood up to usher Piper out of the room. Reluctance, coupled with a lot of protests, proved to be no match for Authenti's willpower, and within moments the door was shut behind the disgruntled Storm Hawk and the two were entirely on their own.

"So."

"Where to begin?" Authenti sighed. "Well… Okay, first off, I was in Cyclonia for a good couple of weeks, and I heard rumours that you got hold of a powerful suit of armour," she began, noting his barely-noticeable change in expression when she spoke of this. "I believe it was run on crystals and… you almost lost your mind."

"That's not true!" he snapped. "If I'd just planned more beforehand… got a stash of crystals ready-"

"Sir. You were mentally unstable. I may not seem like someone who'd have intricate knowledge about anything, but honestly, I do know a lot about how losing your mind works. I know that denial comes more easily than acceptance, sir."

He couldn't seem to meet her eyes; his face was unusually pale. The warrior examined his hands with an unreadable expression.

"Anyhow, I did some digging, and the more I learned about that suit, the more worried I became. Of course, when the news of your defeat reached Cyclonia, I was momentarily relieved. But when you did not return… I feared that something may have happened." She fixed her eyes on him, ears forwards. "I want your side of the story. I want to know why you didn't come back to Cyclonia."

The eyes of the Cyclonian warrior eventually turned to her. She returned his gaze with a defiant look, and eventually he broke down and decided to tell her.

"Fine. I… I left because I just needed to… to get away from everything. Just for a while. I tried to think of somewhere I wouldn't be disturbed – not even by Master Cyclonis herself. The Wastelands seemed a good bet; the landscape down there constantly changes, so no one can really map it too well. Where else better to…" He trailed off. She knew why he didn't say the last word.

_Hide._

"I needed time." He finished, and turned away from the wolf's unwavering stare. He looked out of the window with a feeling of discontent.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever, but Authenti seemed to have found the right words.

"Dark Ace. You are Cyclonia's most valuable soldier. That position seems unlikely to change any time soon, and until it does, Cyclonia _needs_ you. One more failure can't hurt, especially not if it's caused by a threat that the whole of Cyclonia recognises as being exceptionally hard to overcome. But," she added, a sly smile crossing her lips; "Cyclonia isn't exactly a house of straw or sticks. I should know. I'm the big bad wolf. It can stand on its own for a while, don't you think? So, without further ado…"

The Dark Ace frowned at her, trying to predict what the hell she was about to spring on him.

"I hereby announce that I'm taking you to explore the uncharted Atmos. Think of it as a scouting mission, if you will – because I know you'll refuse if I say it's a holiday."

No one could _ever_ predict what the hell Authenti was going to spring on them.


	7. Ch7: Stay Still For Five Minutes DAMN IT

Piper stepped back, blinking. She couldn't believe that Authenti was actually offering a holiday to one of the greatest enemies to the Atmos.

Still, it wasn't _entirely _the most surprising thing ever. Anyone who'd been around Authenti for more than five minutes knew how spontaneous she could be (and frequently was). She knew, however, that the Dark Ace's answer would be a rather firm 'No'. So the Storm Hawk left for the bridge, still confused.

"She _what_?" Aerrow spat, slamming his hands onto the table.

"It's true. I listened in. The doors on the Condor need work, everyone knows that – they always have gaps around the edges… and… well, yeah, that's what I heard." She was a little put off by the way Aerrow had taken her news.

"I swear, this could so easily be read as treachery to all of Atmos," Finn pointed out, shaking his head slowly. He folded his arms and leant against a wall.

"Still…" piped up a gloomy voice from somewhere near the controls. "That wolf has never really shown any loyalty to either side – and the rare occasions she's actually seen doing something that would sway her neutrality, she immediately cancels it out by helping the other side." Stork seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone, though the other Storm Hawks were listening intently. "It's a precarious balance," he added after a while.

"Stork. Seriously. Why does everything you say sound like a prediction of impending doom?" The blonde seemed spooked by Authenti's "treason", but he was intent on bugging everyone the same way he normally did.

Stork didn't bother turning round. They all knew what his answer would be before he even spoke.

"That's because… _it usually is._"

"Chilling words," Aerrow said sarcastically. "But the problem remains: what do we do about this?"

It was at this point that Junko finally had his say. "I… I think we should let her go through with it," he stated in a small voice. Everyone turned to look at him, and he gave one of his embarrassed, quiet laughs at their unreadable gazes.

Eventually, Piper bit back a hasty retort and simply said, "I agree. I think." Aerrow glanced from her to Junko, and then back again. "Hear me out. We all know Authenti is… trustworthy, right? I mean, she's neutral as far as the war goes, but on a scale of honesty to individuals, she tends to hold her word." Piper paused, wondering whether or not to continue. She didn't have to.

"So while she's keeping the Dark Ace occupied with the exploration, we can get some work done without being interrupted by him. See?" Junko was more confident now that Piper seemed to understand his side of the argument.

Aerrow was about to say something, but Radarr jumped onto the table and turned to chirp and nod at him, as if trying to be clear that he shared their opinion.

"Well… It'll be at least another three days until _he _recovers, so… we can decide lat-"

He stopped talking, staring out of the window at the skimmer that was making its way steadily away from the Condor, heading for bluer skies. Not surprisingly, it had the Dark Ace and Authenti seated on it.

"…Ah."


	8. Ch8: LAVA THINGIES WOOO

The Dark Ace glared ahead, navigating carefully through the mist. "It's here. Close, anyway."

"Sure?"

"Positive. _My _skimmer has a tracking device on it. Not that I lose it often," he added, then winced, managing not to accidentally change course.

Authenti rolled her eyes teasingly, not that he could see her – he was focused entirely on the skies ahead, determined not to make the same mistake twice in the misty surroundings. "Boys and their toys. Always with the latest gadgets. How very typical."

"Shut up. We're going down." He adjusted the controls accordingly, and they began to glide through the clouds. As soon as they were beneath the thick layer of mist, he cut the engines and they dropped like a stone. Authenti yelped, and found herself getting a firm grip around his waist. Her stomach was doing somersaults…

"Agh – get off!" The Cyclonian removed his hands from the controls long enough to grab wildly at her hand-like paws, wrenching them off him with a gasp of pain.

"Don't just _fall_ without any warning, then!" she barked back, snarling. Fear was not a feeling she enjoyed. Adrenaline made her seriously pissed.

The Dark Ace slammed a fist on the controls, knocking the wings out again and revving the engine once or twice. They slowed to a crawl, though they were still gliding down.

"Damn it!"

Authenti realised what she'd done, sighing. Way to go and ruin the healing process. Piper had said that he'd apparently had two broken ribs – and his arm was wrecked. The splint and the bandages seemed to be helping, although he'd almost refused their help at first. The spatter of blood onto one of his hands when he coughed had been the factor that changed his mind.

The Cyclonian steered round in a circle, spiralling down slowly until they finally sighted his broken skimmer and made a beeline for it.

Minutes later, and they were skidding to a halt on dried magma. It was cooler now – but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. It meant that elsewhere, some magma was melting, which would raise the liquid-rock level and then begin to dissolve this area until everything cooled again.

The Dark Ace dismounted quickly, grunting as he knocked his arm on the skimmer. Authenti followed close after, and they walked together towards the wreckage. The wolf carried a toolbox. A large and heavy toolbox.

They slowed to a halt, and for a few moments the Cyclonian warrior remained still, just surveying the damage to his customised skimmer.

Authenti plonked the toolbox down and clicked the latch, flipping open the lid. "Ew. They've all got oil and stuff on them."

"All the better. You forgot the oil can. Now… go over there. Keep watch for, er…" He faltered. "Lava… things." He dismissed her with a wave, grabbed a wrench and set to work.

The wolf took a deep breath and went back to the unbroken skimmer. "How long will we be down here, do you think?"

"If you keep talking, probably two days. Maybe a day and a half, if I'm lucky." He shot her a disapproving glare over his shoulder as she paced over to a patch of still-molten magma and stared into it.

"There are smaller things than fire worms living in that stuff, so no matter how small, any puddle of lava is dangerous. I'd keep away if I were you." He reached for another tool and stopped paying any attention to her.

"Coming back for your Switchblade was _your _idea. Anyway, I know enough about the Wastelands to fend for myself." She smirked deviously, knowing that right now – whether he wanted to admit it or not – he would be in no state to evade a lava worm if she left him alone here. In a way, she liked having this sort of power over someone meant to be nearly impossible to defeat.


	9. Ch9: My Turn! I Want To Talk To Him!

Stork squinted at the mist ahead, then blinked away the light as the Condor suddenly burst out of the foggy region. _That could have ended badly, _he thought to himself, giving a slow, careful look round the area before he finally seemed to relax a little.

He looked to his right. Aerrow was standing with his arms folded, looking pensive. He was staring blankly out of the front window, watching the mostly unchanging landscape and occasional terras pass them by.

The sun was bright and cheery. Usually, this was irritating and off-putting, but… he somehow felt almost… _optimistic._

"Strange," he remarked to no one in particular. "I thought that I'd feel worse when Authenti made off with the Dark Ace, but…" He trailed off, not bothering to finish – but, without moving, he gave a quick glance in Aerrow's direction. The Sky Knight hadn't realised that he'd meant to start a conversation. No surprise there; he didn't do this often. "I don't know. The Dark Ace isn't the only danger out there. But having him out of the way…"

Aerrow jerked a head in Stork's direction, finally noticing that the merb had actually been speaking. Everyone had become so accustomed to Stork's mutterings of doom and gloom that they'd learned to disregard what he was saying unless he _really _tried to get their attention.

"Feels almost safe, doesn't it?" he replied, and found that this was entirely true. He had been against the idea of even letting the Dark Ace out of their sight, and with Authenti there was no telling what they'd get up to… And yet it was still a relief.

"Not really," Stork said immediately, but back-pedalled. "I mean. Uhh." He glanced at his leader again. Aerrow raised his eyebrows, urging him to continue. Stork sighed. "Well… sort of… not as dangerous as it could be," he admitted, and lapsed back into silence.

"I wonder how she's doing?" Aerrow mused. "Did she take a radio with her?"

Stork shrugged. "Only one way of knowing." Without having to look, he plucked the microphone for the Condor's radio off its holder and tossed it to Aerrow, who caught it deftly and pressed one of the six buttons down its sides. A radio receiver blipped from its position on the table. He tried another, and a similar noise resounded from somewhere in a box in the corner. Apart from the last two, the radios were all in the room somewhere.

"That leaves the one Piper was using earlier, which she left in her room… and then one other." He held down the final button. "Authenti, if you have the radio, pick it up and press the black button on the left hand side," he spoke into the microphone. For a few minutes there was no answer.

Then…

_Blip._

"…is that thing? ….bet they're overhead right now, aren't they?" The radio was picking up a lot of static, but it was unmistakeably the Dark Ace's voice.

"Hang on, Aerrow… fix this thing…" There were various scuffling sounds, then a sharp _thunk_ noise that suggested Authenti had hit the thing on a rock. "Ah, there we go. Is it clearer now?"

_Blip._

Aerrow grinned and glanced at Stork, who grimaced at the thought of his radios being 'fine-tuned' with rocks and violence.

"Yep, I think you, er… fixed it. I was checking if you had the radio with you, and apparently you do." He awaited a reply, and one came faster this time.

"Gotcha. Well, I'd better go if I know what's good for me. The Dark Ace thinks you're tracking us. He didn't really agree to the holiday thing, you know-"

"It's not a damn holiday!"

"-and we're fixing up his skimmer right now."

Finn had entered the room, and he looked more than a little annoyed.

"So that's where the toolbox went! Aw, man, I need it for tinkering with the motor!" He kicked the table leg. The entire thing collapsed, and he made a strangled 'yerk' noise and quickly shuffled about on his hands and knees picking up the maps and charts that had scattered everywhere. "Piper's gonna kill me…"

Aerrow chuckled and spoke into the receiver again.

"Well, at least we know you're okay."

"Haha, true- ah, what the hell, hey-!"

"Hello, _Aerrow._" A chill ran up his spine. He scowled at the speaker. "I bet you'll be glad to know Authenti is trying to break the rest of my ribs for getting the radio off her. I just wanted to tell you that if you so much as try to follow me, I will make it a top priority to send every last Cyclonian fighter after you and make things hell for a month, so- AUGH, WHAT THE HELL-"

"Eek! Sorry, didn't mean to hit your broken rib, no, seriously, OK PUT THE ENERGY SWORD DOWN OR I SWEAR I'LL GO GORGE SLOTH ON YOUR ASS-!"

_Blip._

Stork picked the receiver up from where Aerrow had accidentally dropped it on the floor when Authenti's yelling had alarmed him. Placing it back on the hook, he gave an amused smirk.

"Did that answer your question?"


	10. Ch10: New OC, Everyone Stop Reading Now

Soaring. Something dropping into a pool. Bursting out again, the droplets flashing in slow motion…

"Zzn, huhwha?" Authenti shook her head wildly, breaking out of sleep quickly. She was on a grassy terra… terra? _No,_ she thought, _this is a mountain – directly out of the Wastelands themselves. _She stood up, shook herself doggishly again and padded over to the edge. The dizzying heights made her light-headed, but she recovered quickly and turned round in time to see the Dark Ace slide down the side of a scree-covered slope. She watched him closely; saw him flinch as his arm struck an outcrop of rock, then stumble to a halt when he reached his skimmer at the bottom.

"Anything?" she called, cracking her knuckles loudly and striding over to the Cyclonian. She liked to think he might trust her a little more than he did before – she hadn't attacked him or pranked him or drawn stupid faces on his forehead while he slept, anyway. That had to count for something.

"There's a human girl up there. Still asleep, at least, she was until a rock gave way and I almost fell on her."

"Does she know where we are?"

The Dark Ace nodded. "I made a lot of noise when I came back for the skimmer. If my arm wasn't broken, I'd have been quieter." He scowled at Authenti as if it were somehow her fault, then swung his leg over the Switchblade Elite and seated himself firmly on it.

Authenti waited for a few vital seconds before making her way over to her own skimmer – this was one of her secret tests she frequently carried out. He waited. She began to trust him more this way.

"By the way," she began suddenly, "what did the girl look like?"

"Blonde; long hair; very pale…"

"_Authenti!_" The wolf's muzzle snapped upwards to stare at the girl who was leaping nimbly down the slope. "I can't believe it's you!"

"Amber?" she enquired, eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and delight. The Dark Ace heaved an irritated sigh and got off the skimmer.

"Never mind. I'll go do recon." He left them to it and headed off on a path round the side of the mountain.

Amber grinned and launched herself at the wolf, knocking over the skimmer as she did so.

"Ouch! It's crushing my leg! Get off, ye hooligan!" Authenti yelled, laughing hysterically, and managed to lever the heavy bike up enough to get out from under it and return the girl's hug properly.

"What are you doing out here?" Amber asked, bouncing backwards to grin enthusiastically at her old friend.

"Exploring the uncharted Atmos, accompanied by none other than the Dark Ace of Cyclonia. Why, what are you doing here?"

Amber explained that she'd had more or less the same idea, only her version was to get as far as possible from the charted Atmos – rather than skirting the boundaries and charting things.

"I'd always been terrible with maps," she explained. "As far as exploration goes, there's either 'back' or 'forward'." She giggled lightheartedly and helped Authenti to get the bike right side up.

-

"Oh, don't tell me."

"She's coming with us."

"I said not to tell me," the Dark Ace muttered resentfully. His hand twitched, but he refused to clamp it to his chest.

"You look pale. What happened to you? Everyone said you'd disappeared." Amber looked worried, and warily approached him, regarding the splint on his arm with a sympathetic look.

Dark Ace ignored her and strode past, retaining the powerful air surrounding him without so much as flinching when Authenti prodded him in the ribs upon nearing her.

"Don't do that," he snapped, his voice cracking slightly.

"Sir. I was hoping you'd tell me yourself, but I suppose it doesn't matter. I already heard everything from Authenti."

"Then why ask me?" he said, frustrated.

"Because it'd prove you still consider me an ally. Perhaps not, then?" She shrugged and followed him to his Switchblade. "I remember this. Oh, it's a bit roughed up, though."

"Hands off," the Cyclonian warned her, keeping a close eye on the girl as she circled his ride.

"Get off it," she commanded. He stared at her, hand on the ignition. There were few things that caught him completely off guard, but a direct command from someone way inferior to him was… laughable.

"_Excuse me?_"

"No, I didn't mean get off it so I can order you about. We both know I'm nowhere near high up enough in the ranks to tell you what to do. Haha! I meant get off so I can clean your skimmer for you." She grinned, and offered a hand. He glanced at it suspiciously, then sighed deeply and took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet.

"Am I missing something?" Authenti asked, confused. Why did the Dark Ace let Amber help him?


	11. Ch11: Greasemonkey

Amber grinned and slapped the superior soldier on the back as he passed. He smirked over his shoulder.

"Watch it, captain."

Authenti's jaw dropped. Visibly.

"_Captain?_"

Amber laughed. "That's right, I forgot to tell you. I worked hard in Cyclonia. Eventually, I got recognised. A couple of promotions, and now I'm captain of a relatively small fleet. We're actually fairly well known for our contrary tactics, even if we're not too talented in other fields."

Authenti raised a brow. "Nice. Good going, sport. I didn't think you had it in ya." She stood watching Amber for a while. "So, uh. These tactics. Do they involve cleaning skimmers, by any chance?"

The blonde girl chuckled. "_Look _at it, Auth. It's a brilliant piece of machinery. A bit bull-headed and hard to control – _what a resemblence _–" The Dark Ace shot her a bored glance and went to sit on an outcrop of rock, watching her. "- but it's such a work of art… Authenti, seriously, _look _at it."

"Greasemonkey." Authenti grinned, baring razor-sharp white fangs, and headed over to the scree-covered slope. "Well, since you two are, er… _busy_… I'll go scout the rest of the area."

"Already been done," the Dark Ace interrupted, holding his good arm out to stop her. She shoved it aside.

"So? _I _haven't seen it yet." She laughed, and loped up the steep incline in a four-pawed, wolf-like gait. "Besides, you're incapacitated – I bet you went as far as that rock up there and then had to come back!" Cackling evilly, she ran a little faster as the Cyclonian chased after her for a few steps, then he sighed, shook his head and returned to sit on the rock again.

"Not worth it."

Amber slid out from under his sky-ride and gave him a bemused look.

"Since when does the Dark Ace _not_ push himself to the limit?"

He sighed and leaned back, letting out a breath of relief as his chest stopped hurting.

"I think everyone needs a break once in a while."

Amber blinked at him for a few moments, eyeing his bandaged chest and the splint lashed to his arm. _Never seen him relax before. Maybe almost dying was actually good for him._ She laughed at the thought, and slid back under the skimmer before he could give her a questioning glance.

"Ew. When was the last time you cleaned this pile of junk?"

"I thought you said it was a work of art."

"I thought you weren't listening."

"Touché."

-

"Amber, turn that crappy music off and get on the _inferior _skimmer. It's time to go." Authenti returned from her exploring trip and tumbled head-over-heels down the slope to land in a mess at the bottom.

Amber was wearing earphones, but they were turned up loud enough for everyone to hear. It had been grating on the Dark Ace's nerves, but she'd refused to switch it off.

She turned down the sound so that only she could hear it, and removed one earpiece so she could hear everyone else properly. Mounting the skimmer, Authenti took a position behind Amber.

"You drive, I suck at it. Don't just fall out of the sky without telling me, though. I nearly killed the mighty warrior over there when he did it."

"One last modification," Amber piped up, reaching for a hammer. She hefted it from her left to her right hand, then smashed at the edge of a shield on the side of the skimmer she was on. A couple more hits, and it rolled off like a discarded wheel cap. "Purely for our reputation," Amber explained. "Cyclonians seen flying with a skimmer that bears the Storm Hawks' insignia will be shot at. They'll be hesitant to fire at the Dark Ace, but unfortunately not everyone can be legendary." She grinned and revved the engine, then curled her lip at the sound it made. "It _purrs._"

"Problem, captain?" the Dark Ace asked icily.

"No. Just a hindrance. Geez, Auth, you could have picked something with more of a _roar_ to it."


	12. Ch12: Arygyn's Type Of Holiday

"Authenti to Condor, Authenti to Condor, do you read me? Come in, Condor!"

A pause.

"I 'read' you. Stop being so cheesy."

She laughed at Stork's complaint and fumbled with the radio.

"Whatever. Anyway, just calling to say that we're now a team of three. An old friend of mine joined us. Haven't seen her in a while – she's changed. A lot."

Stork glanced at the speakers, sighing. "Yeah. Fine. This concerns me because…?"

"It doesn't. I have another reason for contacting you. Where," she began to speak a lot more quietly; "would be the best place for a holiday – apart from Terra Tropica?"

"Hmm." Stork paused, then shouted something to Finn. Immediately, the spiky-haired sharpshooter was at the radio.

"Get your butt over to Terra Neon!" he yelled into the mic. Authenti glanced at the Dark Ace, who was staring at her.

"Erm."

He facepalmed.

"Damn. I guess my evil plot is out in the open. Set course for Terra Neon, and straight on 'til morning!" She grinned.

"There's no way I'm agreeing to this."

Amber turned to exchange knowing glances with Authenti. Then they simultaneously turned back to grin scarily at the Cyclonian.

-

"I can't believe I agreed to this," the Dark Ace muttered. Authenti leapt up and dropped a pink, glittery cowboy hat onto his head. He punched her in the solar plexus and she fell into a coconut stall.

"Candy-floss?" Amber offered a stick of it to the Dark Ace, but he gave her such a look of utter malice that she withdrew quietly to devour the sugar herself. "Aw, come on," she urged between mouthfuls of soft pink sugar; "at least try to enjoy yourself."

He glared at her, crimson eyes flashing angrily. "Can't you see the way people are looking at me?" he hissed. "Last time I was here… I went crazy and wrecked the place."

"As if any of this lot are the same people who were even there that day. Apart from the employees, but, you know. They're only in it for the money. They don't care who pays them."

"Then maybe you could _pay_ them to stop staring at me." He kept to the shadows.

Amber felt sympathetic, but she couldn't think of a way to get him to stop being so self-pitying.

Until she saw the rollercoaster.

"Oh, holy crap." He gave her a funny look, and she pointed at the triple loop. Someone dropped an ice cream out of its cone at the top of the middle loop, then it fell on the person in the front seat when it swerved down again.

"Hey! Guys! I found Arygyn!!" came a familiar call from somewhere to their right. Authenti bounced over, and fell at their feet. "EW EW THERE'S STICKY STUFF ON THE FLOOR EW-" she screeched, leaping up again and clawing at her jeans.

A colourful character followed soon after, grinning madly. His smile faltered when he saw the Dark Ace, and he seemed to consider this new appearance for a moment. Then he just rolled his eyes, as if making up his mind not to pressure him about the incident with the power suit, and offered a hand.

Hesitant, the fighter reached out, then gave in and firmly shook hands.

"Well, now that _that's _over with, I saw you guys lookin' at the Majesty there."

"That's the name of the rollercoaster?" Amber was answered by a nod from the bizarrely-dressed man, and she smiled dazedly up at the looping ride. "Awesome."

"Isn't it just?" he grinned, and suddenly grabbed Amber's hand. Dragging her towards the coaster's entrance, he knew that the others would follow – if, in the case of the Cyclonian, reluctantly.

He stopped at the ticket counter, and observed the queue with a look of disdain. "No way I'm sticking around in _that _for hours. Come along, they know me round here – I have rights to pretty much everything." He let go of Amber's hand, and she brushed it on her jeans subconsciously as the others caught up and they followed him straight past the queue.

"You sure this thing is safe?" she asked, glancing at the tracks and wincing as they rattled ominously.

"Honey, I've been on this thing thirty-six times in the past week. Yes, it's safe."

"Wait. You're actually expecting me to go on this thing, aren't you?" The Dark Ace stepped back, eyeing the empty front carriage.

"Well, yeah. You're all healed up now. Well, pretty much. You should take it easy, but I know if we left you alone you'd go and make something explode just for the heck of it, so it won't make much difference either way." Authenti snuck up behind him and gave him a firm shove into the seat. He gave her a hateful look and edged along it, sandwiched uncomfortably between Amber and the wolf. Arygyn vaulted energetically into the seat behind them, and an attendant moved along the carriages to lift down the safety bars.


	13. Ch13: Your Normality Is Showing

The track began to click as the wheels run over the barely-noticeable places where one part of metal joined to another. Amber's hands tightened around the safety bar, and she paled.

"Not… entirely sure… I want to do this," she choked out. A glance up and to her left, a sneer returned down to her.

Dark Ace was reminded of how much taller he was than both of them. It was… strange. He'd never really paid much attention to this before. It stuck in his head, though. What could this do to his reputation?

The carriage began to climb almost immediately, snaking up a curved incline to teeter precariously on the top.

"Everybody put yer hands up!" he heard Arygyn yell behind him. Turning slightly, he observed that the experienced carnie was sitting with his arms folded, legs crossed over almost elegantly. They dropped. Arygyn didn't even flinch.

_What an asshole,_ he thought.

Authenti let out an echoing howl that cut through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter. He felt himself begin to develop a headache, and groaned in dismay. As irritating as he thought this entire thing could get, it was about to get worse.

Amber looked at him again, and he didn't return her glance this time. She noted that he had one hand resting lightly on the bar and the other holding it in place carefully.

_This was a bad ide _They went round the first loop, and her thought processes gave way to a rush of adrenaline and voices screaming in her ears from the carriages behind them. Authenti howled again, ending it in a high-pitched bark as they dropped like a stone to ride the momentum up the second loop. An engine powered them back up the third, and after another exhilarating drop, they slowed to a halt outside the station again.

The Cyclonian let out a sigh that he'd barely realised he had been holding, and waited for the attendant to unlock the safety bar. He was out in a shot, vaulting expertly over Authenti to go stand leaning casually against the exit gate.

The wolf and the blonde girl glanced at each other, then followed him out. Authenti bounded off to go find somewhere that sold decent coffee.

Amber managed to prise her fingers off the freezing cold metal bar and walked shakily over to the Dark Ace.

He looked a lot paler than normal.

"'Scuse me," he mumbled, not caring whether or not she'd actually heard him, and slipped away into the crowd.

"Stay away from him for a while," Arygyn warned. "I know the signs. He's acting like there's nothing wrong, but I'm afraid your friend is a little _ill_."

Amber's head snapped round to stare the odd man right in the eyes. Then she burst out laughing.

"Ahaha! I'm sorry – I'm sorry. That ride scared me more than the time I rode a skimmer right into a head-on collision with a Sky Knight – but hell, it was worth it, just for the look on his face!" She laughed hysterically again and wandered off to find Authenti. Arygyn watched her go, grinned, and went off to find someone else to treat to a free Majesty ticket.

-

"Back so soon?" Amber enquired. Authenti doubled up laughing loudly.

"Shut up."

"Jeez, I wish I could tell everyone about this when we get back." The Cyclonian froze, then tried to pretend he hadn't heard her. "I _wish._ But, for your sake, I won't." She grinned and grabbed his hand, shaking it roughly before he pulled away to sulk. "I promise."

Authenti gave them a stick of candy floss each. The Dark Ace went pale and dropped it into a bin as he passed by. The wolf tutted and shook her head.

"What a waste."

"I'm leaving," the Dark Ace stated casually. "It's high time I got back. I didn't want to be here in the first place."

"I bet you enjoyed it, though."

He turned to read her expression, but to his surprise it wasn't mocking.

"Well, you're in no state to be flying all the way back," Authenti observed. "And making a grand entrance is out of the question." She glanced at his hair, which was tousled and messy.

He waited until no one was looking and quickly swept a hand self-consciously over his hair.

"So, how about we head for the nearest inn and stay the night?"

The Dark Ace considered this for a split second, but shook his head. "No. I need to get back as soon as possible." He found his skimmer where he'd parked it, chained to a bolt in the ground specifically for that purpose. "I'm not tired." Great. Now that he'd said that, he really, _really _wanted to yawn.

Authenti regarded him critically for a minute, watching him fumble shakily with the lock on his bike chain, and then shook her head slowly.

Amber deliberately yawned. That set Authenti off, and then finally the Dark Ace was infected with tiredness as well and stifled a yawn of his own.

"Look. You're usually busy keeping up that 'dangerous, superior and elusive' attitude, but… come on. There has to be some trace of a normal guy under there somewhere. And you can trust me not to ever mention anything that's happened these past few nights. So now it's your side of the deal. I'll fly wing-to-wing with your skimmer all the way back to Cyclonia. I'll break off when we reach the border, and all that jazz. I have an alibi too. So just _promise _me you'll forget about all that power-suit business. It's over."

He furrowed his brow, watching her closely for a few moments. "I don't make promises. Besides, Master Cyclonis will want an explanation – I can't just 'forget all about it'." He studied her face for any reaction. She just looked genuinely concerned. "…But… just this once… fine. As long as we never have to talk to each other again."

"Deal!" Amber grinned, and headed for the skimmer she'd chained to another bolt. "Authenti, you all set getting out of here?"

"I'll be fine. I have a radio, remember? I'll sing at the Storm Hawks until they come pick me up."

"One last thing," the Dark Ace revved his engine, warming up the skimmer for its soon-to-come drop over the edge of the terra. "Authenti…"

"Yes?"

"The truce is over. If I see you in battle, I'll kill you."


	14. Ch14: Interrogation, Reparation

Authenti yawned and stretched, the noises of the carnival rousing her from sleep and giving her a headache.

_Mental note: don't sleep in loud places,_ she thought, pressing a paw to her forehead. She slid the radio up so that it unclipped from the rim of her jeans pocket, and pressed the black button.

"Stork, are you there?"

Almost immediately, he answered. There were loud crashing noises in the background.

"_Yeah, _I'm here. Have you ever actually seen me leave the bridge of my own accord?"

Authenti thought back to all the times she'd met Stork, and chuckled good-naturedly as she remembered knocking him out with a crystal's power and then locking him in his room. Or, something like that. She didn't remember.

"Well – no. Anyway, I figured you'd probably be there. I want a favour."

Stork didn't answer. She figured he was probably ignoring her now.

"Yeah, I know, I've asked for a lot of favours before and… not actually paid you back for it, but I've got no other way of getting off Terra Neon."

"What about the skimmer you _stole_?"

"Amber has it now."

"Oh. Right. _Of course. _I forgot that you never really intend to return what you borrow." Stork yelled something into the background, and the radio went dead.

"Er. Stork. You okay?"

There was a long silence with nothing happening. Then Piper picked up the radio.

"Sorry, Authenti," she suppressed a squeak of surprise as the Condor did a sudden nose-dive through the clouds and then swerved sharply up again. "We're in a little trouble with the Cyclonians right now."

Authenti glanced at a clock on the side of the gates that led into the huge amusement-park terra. "Is the Dark Ace with them?"

"I thought he was with you! No, he's not here- ow!"

"Well, er, I'll leave you to it, then." She grinned sheepishly and clipped the radio back onto her pocket.

-

Amber, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. It was so fun. Happy, happy, happy.

"Explain yourself properly this time. _Why _were you away for so long?"

If she tried to stand up, the chair lashed to her waist would unbalance her and she wouldn't be able to steady herself with both feet tied to the chair legs and her hands in much the same predicament at the back of the chair. She knew this because she'd found out the hard way.

"I don't have to answer to you," she said coolly, and tossed her head to get her blonde hair out of her eyes.

The Cyclonian hit her with the back of his hand. She'd already steeled herself for impact – but damn, it hurt.

"Woman beater," she teased. "You'd be a terrible husband."

"Interrogation is always carried out this way. My wife and two children back at home would vouch for me. Now, are you going to answer me, or not? _Where were you_?"

"Out." She managed to give a weak smirk. Giving such a typical teenage answer made her feel like she was fifteen again. She liked acting younger than she was. It confused the hell out of everyone.

"One last time," the heavily-built guard warned her, and he pressed a button on his crystal spear. The sharpened blade flared up with bright red energy, and he held it dangerously close to her neck. She could feel the heat of it, and tried not to move. "Your mission was a simple one: do recon in the mountains. And yet you come back just under a month later, with a different skimmer to the one you set off with. Care to explain that?"

She hesitated, looking him in the eyes. "I lost the skimmer in an avalanche somewhere to the south of Cyclonia, and I managed to get another one from a merchant ship when I finally hitched a ride back to Cyclonia." She was hoping desperately that no one had really checked over the skimmer yet. They were sure to find the Storm Hawks' mark somewhere on it – and it was definitely going to be recognised as an Atmosian design no matter how little attention they paid to it…

The door eased open. A familiar figure stepped through, filling the room with his usual air of power. The guard turned, and flinched.

"Y-yes, sir?"

"Cease interrogation."

The guard stared at his superior with a look of terror, but that feeling quickly began to be replaced by defiance. This was worrying.

"And why, exactly, should I do that? Surely you can't provide an alibi for this person…?" He sneered at the Dark Ace, knowing how much trouble this man was in already. "Besides –"

"She was with me. Now let her go, or I'll forget about toeing the line for now and throw you in the dungeon myself!" he growled at the soldier. The man fumbled with his energy spear nervously, his burst of courage ebbing. The Dark Ace may have been relieved of missions for goodness knows how long, but he still held control of his inferiors.

"…Yes, sir," he grumbled, and cut through the ropes tying Amber to the chair one by one. She stood up and ignored the dull ache from the rope burns on her wrists and ankles for now, and paced to one side to allow the guard to leave.

There was a long and awkward silence.

"You… you really stuck your neck out for me there. You might have given Cyclonis another excuse to get pissed at you."

He remained watching her for a few more minutes. Eventually, he turned on his heel and opened the door. He muttered something over his shoulder, and disappeared down the corridor.

"_I owed you._"


	15. Ch15: AWKWAAAAARD!

Amber rubbed irritably at her neck where the guard had held his blade too close the night before. She thought back over what had happened, and wondered what would happen to the Dark Ace as retribution for this. The blonde wanted to find out, but doing so might ruin things further. She didn't know whether or not to keep quiet or actively pursue the matter. In any case, she was back at her temporary home in Cyclonia, and it felt good to just relax for a little while.

She'd leave it until tomorrow. That way, she might actually get wind of what happened before she even bothered to go looking for rumours.

A knock at her door made her jump. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had come to visit. Except the day before, early in the morning, when the guards had shown up to escort her to the interrogation cell. Hm. That wasn't particularly encouraging.

She figured it'd probably be best to pretend she wasn't in, but curiosity got the better of her. Amber put the plate of toast to one side and quickly grabbed a hairbrush, trying to sort out her appearance as she unlocked and opened the door.

-

"Oh, great. _Just great._ We fend off the Cyclonians, and then _she_ shows up. Way to make the day _even better_." His sarcasm seemed to saturate his voice, and Stork slowed the ship to a crawl as the skimmer came in to land on the runway.

A few minutes later, the wolf burst into the control room with a stupid grin on her face.

"Hiii! Sorry I missed… stuff… but I was kind of busy. Someone made a complete _arse _of themselves at the Wayside, and I figured I should probably save the poor waitress the trouble and drag them outside myself." She waved to everyone. They didn't seem entirely pleased to see her, though Junko's opinion of her seemed more or less unchanged as he approached to give her an encouraging pat on the back which almost sent her through the front window. "I interfere way too much," she explained. "They asked me to leave. Anyhow, is everyone doing relatively okay here?"

Aerrow sighed and put a hand to the back of his neck. This whole thing was awkward. No one really knew what to say to her – she'd just been off on an adventure (of sorts) with their arch enemy. They wanted to trust her, but it was just so weird.

"Er, okay, I can tell I'm not really welcome here, but anyway I got these, and I figured you could use 'em. I'm not staying long." It was only now that everyone noticed the bag she was carrying, and she dumped this on the table. Some nitro crystals spilled out. Apparently the rest of the space in the bag was filled by the same.

Stork zipped over immediately, eyeing the crystals carefully and apparently contemplating what these could do to the Condor.

"Oh, geez, where'd you get these things, Auth?" Piper hovered over them with deep interest, but the others were soon to follow.

"These could really add a kick to our rides," Finn contemplated, grinning impishly.

"I found them scattered on a really small deserted terra. I suggest keeping hold of them for a week and not using any until you're certain no one will come and claim them. Otherwise you could be in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Aerrow drew back a little at this statement. "How can you be sure they don't belong to the Cyclonians?"

Authenti tapped her nose. "Cyclonian uniforms have a very distinctive scent that's entirely different to anything else in Atmos. It's always faint, but I can tell a Cyclonian from anyone else. And that terra just… I don't know. It didn't seem to have any scent on it at all."

"It's possible someone dropped them accidentally from their ship," Piper nodded wisely. "We should keep hold of them-"

"No way, man, I'm using some now! No telling how fast my skimmer could go if I use them one after the other!"

The Storm Hawks began to bicker as to what to do with the crystals, and Authenti laughed at their predicament.

"Well, guys, I'll be off. I hope we'll see each other again soon!" She managed to get her voice heard over the chatter, and Aerrow saluted her with a smile.

-

"You called?" Amber asked, going pale. Why was he here?

He seemed unsure of himself – something Amber had never witnessed until now. Heck, probably no one else in the charted world had seen him look so… _lost_.

"I came to… check up on you." He tugged self-consciously at the top of the hooded cloak he was wearing, and glanced over his shoulder at the busy street. Rain drummed down on everything, but this didn't seem to stop the traffic. People were making it quite clear to each other that they had places to be.

Amber gave a swift look around, and then opened the door all the way.

"You should probably come in. It's weird seeing you out in public without everyone trying to get out of your way."

He had a split second to think about what he was doing, and then he was in the dim hallway with the door shut behind him.

"I'll, er. Do you want some tea?"

The Dark Ace removed his cloak, and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall. Water drained off it. He moved the doormat with his foot so that it caught most of the drips, then followed the blonde into the kitchen without saying a word.

Amber didn't seem to mind. It was almost as if she could understand how badly this whole thing could affect his career. But no, she was a captain, not Cyclonis' most esteemed warrior.

Eventually, she'd forced a cup of coffee into his hands and had her own mug of tea; they were in the dining room, just… sitting there.

"I suppose one of us should probably start a conversation going," Amber remarked out loud. "So here's my pathetic effort. Why are you visiting? And so early in the morning…?"

"I couldn't really come any other time. I'm busy during the night, and past morning it's just preparation for the next mission."

Amber smiled to herself, and gazed into the swirling surface of her tea as she stirred it gently. "You're avoiding the question."


	16. Ch16: One Hour Till Showtime

Authenti tumbled onto the dusty ground, kicking up small rocks and getting her jeans and pink shirt covered in dirt. She lay there moaning for a few moments, then heaved herself into the right shape and stood up rubbing her spine.

"Aw, come on, little wolfy. Can't handle a little fall?" The Colonel emerged from the front gates of his estate with a grin down to the pathetic mess of a wolf who was dusting herself off before him.

"I think I busted a kidney," she answered, and smiled adorably to accentuate her point. "Isn't that lovely?"

"Quite." The spider-like creature drew himself up to his full height. "Now… simply as a formality… I must ask you why you're here."

She zipped over to his side and swung an arm over his shoulder – goodness knows how she managed to reach that high – and grinned comfortably. "Aw, do I need a reason? I wanted to see you, buddy! When's the last time we played catch up, eh?"

The completely indifferent expression on his face said it all, and he plucked her arm from his shoulder with a grimace, letting it fall back to her side again.

"I believe it was several years ago, when you first arrived in Atmos from who-knows-where and fell out of the sky, straight through my roof. I seem to remember you injured one of my guards and broke an expensive vase."

"Ah, yeah, I remember! Ahh, good times… Well, anyway, I wanted to make amends for that."

The Colonel almost laughed at her. "Now _that _is rich. What could you possibly have that would interest me in the slightest?" He motioned with one arm to the vast grounds of his mansion. "I have my own terra, wolfy. You probably don't even possess a sky ride of your own."

"Nope, but I _do _have charisma."

"And that is impressive in some way?"

Authenti grinned devilishly and skipped to the edge of the terra. "You'll need me in about an hour. See ya then!" She leapt off the edge and spread her arms, tail streaming behind her.

"Strange animal," the Colonel mused as he approached the edge and watched her disappear through the clouds. "She did the exact same thing to escape last time."

-

"I need some air," he excused himself, and stalked out of the room, turning off from the corridor and ending up on the balcony that overlooked the main town area of Cyclonia.

Amber resisted getting up to follow him, knowing how fragile his temper probably was right now. She finished her tea and brought her cup to the kitchen to wash up along with the rest of the chores.

Dark Ace leant over the edge, staring emotionlessly down at the people wandering around the streets. He'd forgotten why he had come here. Had he even been sure in the first place? He needed to sort this out. Everything. Not just with Master Cyclonis. Everything seemed to be against him today.

His ribs ached, but they seemed to have healed fairly well. What bothered him was that while he'd been unconscious, the bandages had been applied _under _his clothes. Sure, they had apparently only bothered to take his shirt off; his chest and arm were the only places that really required medical attention. Still, though. How dare they?

"I think we should go check on your skimmer," came a voice from behind him. "I don't trust the mechanics here. They'll probably nick something." Amber waited at the sliding door for an answer.

A sigh. "Maybe."

"It really took a beating from that crash you had. It's a good thing it had such heavy armour. The wings were smashed almost beyond saving, but… well." The dark-haired man turned to face her. Strangely, he didn't seem at all like his usual self. He looked pale. Drained. "Shall we?"

"Do I look… ok?"

She stared at him as if he'd just threatened to gut a puppy; but Amber was known for her ability to recover from shock fairly quickly.

"Er. You look different. Without your uniform, I mean. I don't think I've ever seen you without armour. Not that it's my business," she added. She found herself giving him a quick look over for the first time that day. She'd said it without realising it, but it was true – the energy sword at his belt was the only thing that he had kept from his uniform. Right now it was just a black crew-neck jumper with a red stripe round the chest, and a pair of scuffed black trousers. They suited him, she realised, but it was bizarre seeing the Dark Ace without armour. He didn't even seem to be wearing his metal headpiece, and his hair was a little messier than usual.

He seemed satisfied with her answer, and didn't say much else as they left the house and she locked the door behind them.


	17. Interlude

Sorry to give you false hope that this is another chapter – it's not – but I wanted to take the time to say thanks to those who've read the story so far. Especially to SakariWolfe, who has reviewed the story since day one. Which was… probably only a day ago. And yet it already has sixteen chapters, which means I've been cranking them out like a fanfic factory or some other hilarious and witty metaphor.

So, if I can take a moment of your time to thank you for reading Weird Wolf II, and also to plead with you not to read the old Weird Wolf story – my writing style SUCKED back then. BLARGH.

Also I'd like to apologise for focusing on my OCs rather than the canon characters – I write all of my stories like this because, after all, there are a _lot _of canon characters and it'd take away from the storyline if I wrote more about them at the moment. I'm saying sorry for this because I know that if I see a story with OCs in it, I'm put off reading it – if I want to read, I want to read about the canon characters. But I dunno. Maybe some of you guys enjoy reading about my own characters. If so, have fun! :D

One last thing: if you have any ideas about where the story could go next, PLEASE leave a message via a review or a PM – I'm running out of ideas, as you've probably noticed by the way everything suddenly got boring.

At least I know where I'm going with Authenti at the moment. Stay tuned. Haha!

So, I'll see you around. I'm always friendly to PMs and such, so have a chat if you like.

_Please review! I love you all for having your own opinions! xD_


	18. Ch17: Showtime: Shall We Dance?

"Da- I mean. Sir." No answer, just the steady sound of shoes hitting concrete. "I got a call from Master Cyclonis a while ago." His footsteps continued, but she could have sworn she detected a slight, _very _slight jump in them. "It was concerning you."

"If Master Cyclonis made it clear to you she wanted your conversation to remain confidential, then you can shut up about it."

That was it. No reaction, just the usual case of cold indifference.

"She did. But even the lower life forms have some dignity, sir." She smiled weakly, but this faded fairly quickly. "In any case… Sir, please stop and listen to me." It was easy to keep up the formality in front of the other pedestrians in the street, but it was hard to make it sound authentic.

Finally, his footsteps ceased and she halted by his side.

"_What?_" he asked derisively. She flinched at his tone.

"Master Cyclonis wanted me to watch you. She didn't seem to know that I was with you when you returned to Cyclonia, and so she doesn't think that we even know each other. So I think she intended to have me… stalk you, in a way. And try to find out why you didn't come back after the suit incident."

The Dark Ace fixed her with an unreadable stare. She seemed to cower in front of him, but… what was that in her eyes? He couldn't understand it.

"And?"

"A-and she wanted me to tell her what I found out. I told her… I told her I wasn't able to find you, and so I couldn't get any information." Amber felt very small under his stern gaze. She couldn't help but be reminded that she was standing before a powerful man who was known throughout Atmos. Who was known for not caring about anything but his loyalty to Cyclonia.

He seemed to be waiting for her to explain herself, but he said nothing to encourage her. It was hard to understand what he could be thinking.

"She heard about the power suit. About how you didn't seem yourself. But nothing more than that."

"Why are you telling me this?" He definitely had a hint of suspicion, but that was to be expected.

"Sir. With respect, I believe it would be wise to think of something that would serve as an excuse for your lack of a return. _Fast_. Cyclonis is digging for a story, and if she finds out where you really went… it's over."

-

"And now I see what she meant," the Colonel muttered under his breath, massaging his temples. The pirate ship docked to the edge of his terra was spilling out… well, pirates. And they were about to charge in and steal things.

One of his underlings rushed to close the gate. One of the pirates rolled his eyes and shot him through the stomach. One of his underlings fell to the floor screaming.

"What do you _want_?" he called, stepping up to the still-open gate. Their captain strode forwards with the sort of look someone has when they are about to squash a fly with a copy of the Atmosian Times.

"Oh, nothing much. Just everything you have." The Captain grinned and took a bow, and some of the other pirates snickered. "We've had a rather successful month, you see. More than a few merchant ships taken down and raided… all that jazz. So, how better to usher in the new moon than with a celebratory raiding party, courtesy of the Colonel himself?"

"This is not going to happen," he sighed, bored, and scuttled away from the gate calmly.

It was at that point one of the pirates at the back of the crowd breathed in paralyser-crystal dust and slowly sank down to end up lying on the floor. Three more pirates followed. Five. Of course, someone would have to notice that nine of their ranks were lying motionless on the ground.

"Cap'n! There's something fishy goin' on!"

Captain Scabulous turned to survey the damage to his pirate group. Half of them were now down.

"What the-?"

"HELLO, DOLLEH!" came an irritating, high-pitched voice. Something hit him on the back of the head.

"OW, WHAT THE HELL?"

"Hi, Captain! Didja miss me?"

_Oh, no. I recognise that voice._ The pirate face-palmed.

"Authenti. Get out."

"I don't think I will, no. Haha! Ya see, I owe the Colonel. I broke some expensive stuff."

"Like you did when you 'visited' my ship?" He wanted to get his hand… and hook… around that wolf's neck - and just keep shaking until she stopped breathing.

"A bit like that, yeah. Only, in the Colonel's case, I didn't steal everything of any value." Her tail wagged happily and she sprang to one side as someone fired a dart at her. "Shall we dance, Captain?" She tapped her foot on the floor as if finding a tempo, then waltzed towards him with teeth flashing into a disturbing grin.


	19. Ch18: It's Every Fangirl's Dream, Lol

The Dark Ace took a couple of silent steps into the mechanic's garage and gave one of the workers a piercing look.

"Ah, Dark Ace – it's, er, it's right over there. Good as new…" His voice went squeaky and he edged out of the way, but not without a questioning glance at the Dark Ace's 'alternative uniform'.

The Ace headed straight to his skimmer, which was leaning against the wall in the corner of the building, covered by a cloth. He almost hesitated, but gathered himself before he slipped up and made himself look weak in front of the garage workers. That skimmer actually meant a lot to him. He took hold of the cloth.

Amber waited outside, checking the clock over the front of the garage every few minutes. Finally, she heard an engine start up, and she relaxed a little. At least this meant that the Dark Ace wouldn't return in a fiery temper.

She leant against the wall with one foot up against it, and looked up inquisitively at the towering spires of Cyclonis' main dwelling. It was ominous, to say the least; and it made her wonder how long she'd have left as a captain before she slipped up and Cyclonis found out about it.

The engine noise died down, and the Dark Ace emerged, wheeling his skimmer, from the garage… content. Not particularly joyful and bouncy and glittery and pink, but nonetheless in a fairly good mood.

"All fixed up?" Amber quested, and he nodded once at her.

"I'm returning to Master Cyclonis to explain my absence." It sounded so _final_… but she was glad he at least took the hint. Still, there was one thing she wanted explained.

"Ace." His head snapped round to look at her, as if wondering why she'd stopped being formal. "Why did you come over this morning?"

A minute pause, barely noticeable, and then he spoke.

"I wanted to thank you. But I never really got the chance." That was a lie, to start with. He'd had plenty of chances. She thought about pressing him for a straight answer, but he'd already started the engine and in seconds he was halfway down the street, racing towards the citadel.

She watched him go, then smiled and fell back to leaning against the garage wall for a few moments.

It didn't surprise her that anything any of the girls in her fleet spoke about was the Dark Ace. It _did _surprise her that she'd be the one to meet him in person.

-

Authenti circled the pirate captain, arm bleeding a little and matting the fur. She intended to pay her debt back. It was one of the rare chances she got to do so, and passing it up meant no future alliances with the Colonel. See? She does think about these things, after all.

The captain made a lunge at her with his energy blade, smirking as she dodged it and the smell of burning filled the air. She grabbed her hair and swung it round to inspect the ends. It went from metallic blue to a charcoal brown-black at the tips. She growled.

"Okay, that's done it." She leapt forwards, jaws aiming to close around his arm. She fell just short, and got his leg instead. Like a feral animal shaking a squirrel to death, she tugged at it and remained on four paws, tail up in the air like a banner of warning.

"Agh, get off, ye scurvy dog!" A resounding rumble from deep in her throat told him that this wasn't going to happen unless he did something about it. Waving his blade at her snout, he managed to make a deep gash dangerously close to her eyes. A piercing yelp and she leapt backwards, blood dripping over the side of her face. A tongue snaked over her long snout and she sprang towards him again, a hearty punch in the chin knocking him off-balance.

Just then, the other pirates realised they didn't have to play fair. Several jumped at her from all sides, and she fell to the ground with a thud. Muzzle snapping at anything she could reach, two pirates cried out and writhed to get away from her jaws, and she latched onto the arm of a heavily-built man and unwittingly he tugged her out from under everyone else in his rush to escape. She let go, and he turned to boot her firmly in the stomach. Winded, she doubled up and fell backwards where the Captain was waiting to catch her - and press a dagger up to her throat.


	20. Ch19: Score!

"Well, well, well. I'm impressed you stayed alive this far, although your tactics need some polish."

"I have a proposition for you," Authenti said all of a sudden, smiling. Scabulous had switched off the energy stream to his blade, but the tip was still sharp and as he pressed it closer to her throat, it began to dig in. Any further and it would draw blood, and any sudden movements meant lights out.

"Heh heh… You think you're in a position to reason with me?" She dipped her muzzle slightly without moving too much.

"I have decent cooking skills, you know."

The Captain paused to snigger into her ear.

"And that's in exchange for an entire terra, including a collection of expensive artefacts? Not gonna happen, pup."

"Haha! Okay, fine." She curled up one leg very slowly, then launched it backwards into the pirate's groin. He dropped the knife and fell sideways, adopting a foetal position on the floor.

"_Hey!_ That wasn't fair!" yelled one of the pirates.

"Hypocrite. Ten on one isn't fair, but you did it anyway." She turned to watch the twitching captain and then picked up the dagger, switching on the energy and holding the glowing blade over his good arm, threatening to sever it at the shoulder. "I'm sure you weren't keen on losing your other arm. And _I_ won't let you get away fast enough to replace it with a mechanical one."

He set his teeth and glared at her for a while, assessing his options. Finally he looked away.

"Retreat," he hissed.

"Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast." The pirates stopped heading for the boarding ramp and turned back to face her, confused. "There was a skimmer in your cargo hold last time I was on the ship. If it's still there, bring it out and leave it next to the wall over there… You. Go do that." She pointed at one of the pirates with her free arm, keeping a close eye on their captain. He scurried onto the ship, and after a few minutes, he returned with a lightweight skimmer. She nodded approvingly and motioned for Captain Scabulous to get up. He obeyed, and she jabbed at his back with the blade to force him all the way up the ramp and onto the ship. There, she stopped to make sure he didn't try anything, and walked backwards down the ramp.

"I'm taking no chances," she grinned, and then finally made it to the gate where the Colonel stood waiting with an impressed smile on his face. "Go," she commanded, and the other pirates ran up the ramp. After a while, the ship's engines fired up and it shuddered away from the terra.

Authenti took aim, and launched the energy blade to spin through the air and land embedded in the side of the ship, where it switched itself off.

"Impressive," the Colonel smirked, and the guard behind them applauded her. He elbowed the fool out of the way. "I suppose I can forgive you. As long as you never show your fluffy face here again."

She took a bow and padded over to the skimmer at the wall, revving it. It worked. Good.

She mounted it and noticed something glowing from a bag tied to the side of it. It was full of various grade crystals that the pirates had apparently forgotten about.

"_Score!_" she yelled, punching the air, and zoomed off the edge of the terra to freefall a short way before she pressed the transform button and began to gain height again. _Set course for Cyclonia,_ she thought with a grin. _I have a long overdue appointment with a certain blonde idiot. Hope she got back safe._


	21. Ch20: Confrontation

The Aurora Stone. He reached for it with twisted metal claws, pushed the machine to its limits – one more. One more try. This time, he'd get it. Before it fell, before it shattered into a thousand pieces…

"No-!" He stifled the rest of his cry. He was sitting bolt upright, hand clutching at nothing, in a cold sweat.

_If that crystal hadn't been destroyed… if I had it that day… I'd have been unstoppable._ His hand unclenched. He stared at his palm, pupils dilating in the darkness to allow him to see better. He had another splitting headache; a dull, throbbing pain that began to spread to the rest of his body and then died down to almost nothing.

Almost.

A deep breath, a lengthy sigh, and he rested his head in his hands. Why did that suit keep haunting him like this? He'd used it for a few hours, maybe more… and it was still in his thoughts. Forcing nightmares on him. Sleep was impossible.

A knocking sound. Someone was at the door?

Sighing, he clasped a hand round the handle of his energy sword and crossed the room. He eyed the locks on the door as he undid them, thinking how utterly useless they were. He'd never needed them – especially not since he now woke up shivering every few minutes. Pathetic, really.

Light spilled into the room.

"Uh… Sorry to intrude…"

"Out with it!" he yelled, perhaps a little more loudly than he intended. The lesser guard cringed backwards. He was just a kid – probably… Aerrow's age? This didn't help the situation.

"I… M-Master Cyclonis w-wanted you… To come to her th-throne room… She t-told me to escort you…"

The Dark Ace swept past the guard and knocked him to the wall, where he slid down slowly and buried his face in his arms, knees brought up to his forehead.

"_Pathetic,_" the taller man spat, and swept down the corridor.

-

"You wanted to see me."

No answer. The familiar _bzzt_ of crystals being tampered with.

"Master…"

"I can _hear _you, Dark Ace." Chilling. Another long pause. He waited this one out. She was obviously annoyed enough already. "Do you have any idea how long you were gone?"

"I was made… _painfully_… aware, Master."

"Ah, of course. I assume that means you also know _why _you were gone?" Naturally, she hadn't turned round from what she was doing. She didn't give him that honour today.

"Yes, Master. I was doing reconnaissance in the uncharted mountains."

Of all times, _now _she decided to turn and face him.

"Did I instruct you to do so?"

"No, Master."

"Did _anyone _tell you to do so?"

"No, Master."

"Then why, of all the things you could have been doing, did you go for recon?"

He'd prepared this answer. He could only hope it would aid his cause. "I did not want to return to Cyclonia without anything to show for it."

She regarded him pitilessly. He knew what was coming next. Bracing himself, he shut his eyes and waited for impact.

The Firebolt crystal blast hit him full force, slamming him into the wall and knocking all of the air from his lungs. He grimaced – his ribs had healed, but this much pressure on them so soon… it was excruciating.

"_Do not change plans without notifying me. You should already know this, Dark Ace. I will not tell you again._" She let him drop, and watched him involuntarily seize up and clutch his chest. "Something wrong?" Her lip curled at his incompetence.

"…N… No… Master…" He forced himself to stand, to let his hand fall to his side. "I'm _fine_," he choked.

"Good. See to it that you do not make this mistake again." She returned to her work. He took this as a signal to leave.

He emerged from the huge double-doors, and they slammed behind him. One of the guards glanced at him, and the Dark Ace realised this was the same young soldier from earlier. The kid looked away, unable to meet his hateful gaze.

The other guard… never mind. He needed to concentrate on preventing his knees from giving way. Pain invaded his chest, screaming at him to black out. Anything had to be better than this.

He made it back to his quarters, at least, and locked the door behind him before collapsing onto the floor, face-first.

_Damn it, I hope he's okay in there_, thought the second guard, who had followed him all the way from outside the throne room. She took off her helmet and stood outside picking dust off it. Someone came to the door, holding a map and muttering something about having to deliver it straight to the Dark Ace. She shooed the other Cyclonian away, taking the map and promising to hand it to him –

"-But right now I've been asked not to let anyone inside."


	22. Ch21: Departure

Sharp rapping at the door. Headaches again.

"Sir, you've been in there for three days." That was it. Just a statement. He heard footsteps walk away, then a scuffle, and then a loud shriek as something knocked whoever it was to the ground.

He didn't really have the energy to move right now, but he managed it anyway, getting to his knees and no further, dizzy just from being upright.

"Auth! What the hell!? You scared the life out of me!"

"Haha, I knew I could do a sneak attack. You are so out of it, Amber."

"Well, you know, I've only been standing in the same place for three days – minus breaks. Anyway, shush, he's probably asleep in there or something."

The Dark Ace bit his lip and managed to get to his feet, somehow. He hated that wolf. No amount of fairground rides and cotton candy was going to change that – not for long, anyway.

He placed a hand on the lock, clicking it open and then pulling open the door. Amber had been leaning on it, and fell backwards with a choked squeak. He stepped aside. She hit her head on the floor, and with a vaguely irritated grimace he slipped through the door and shot Authenti a dirty look as he passed.

"No need for that," he heard her mutter. "Anyway! Amber. Guess your job's done now. I wanted to ask you something." The wolf offered a lending paw to Amber, who was tugged to her feet.

"Sure. Whatever."

"Will you come to the Condor with me?" The Dark Ace seemed to have ignored this, or perhaps just hadn't heard. Otherwise he'd probably have them both punished for treason. As it was, he continued down the corridor and vanished round a corner.

"Auth! I can't do that, you know I can't. It would be unspeakable. I'd be hunted down and probably killed, or maybe left in the Wastelands." She looked at Authenti as if she were mad. Which, considering her usual behaviour, the wolf probably was.

"Nah, tell them it's an insider recon. An undercover mission, if you will."

She glanced at Authenti, and put one hand to her eyes to cover them, as if pushed beyond the limit of annoyance.

"Auth."

"Ya?"

"Do you have a paralyser stone in your hand."

"Nope."

"You're going to paralyse me and drag me off by the feet if I say no to this, aren't you."

"Maybe."

-

After Amber had obediently shut and locked the door that the Dark Ace had left open, Authenti grabbed her uniform by the back of the neck and forced her to follow along behind her. Within minutes, they were at one of the several hangars dotted around the edge of the citadel. Authenti headed for the one she'd retrieved from the pirates a couple of days before and hopped on it. She almost expected her friend to get on behind her, like the old days – when neither could fly a skimmer, but Authenti was the one who did anyway.

But Amber was already nudging the stabiliser stand off her own sky ride – a skimmer she'd bought when she first learned to fly one. It had few dents on it despite the wear it had been through; she took great pride in keeping it in good nick. Hers was a little different to the other Talon skimmers parked around the hangar. It was a lot lighter, for a start – the many pieces of standard armour and accessories had been sold, but the Cyclonian symbol was etched on one side in a rainbow of colours, all probably finger-printed onto it separately. It was odd, but the rainbow was a nice change to the usual red – and it was always recognised as hers.

Amber patted the side of it fondly and sat on it sideways while she waited for Authenti to get her own engine working.

"Creepy, Amber. It's a machine, not a pony."


	23. Ch22: A Storm To Catch A Storm Hawk

Storms. The sort of storms that snuck up behind you, hid when you looked, and then unleashed their full wrath on you – just because.

Wind. The sort of wind that fires knives at your face, makes the mix of hail and rain all the harder to bear.

And of course Aerrow. In the middle of it all. Junko, Piper, Finn… even Radarr had leapt across to Piper's heli-scooter and they'd all gone back. But not him. Aerrow wasn't going to give up that easily. He was sure he could find where that distress call came from. Certain of it.

Icy rain lashed at his face, and he was glad he'd brought goggles. Still, the skimmer was getting harder to control. But he had a duty, as a Sky Knight.

"Hello? Anyone out there? This is Aerrow of the Storm Hawks, do you copy?"

The radio crackled and fizzed before finally shorting out. Useless.

_I should go back. Okay. I finally admit defeat._ He wheeled round in a wide circle, the craft shaking against the wind.

No Condor.

"No."

No Condor, and the radio was broken.

"No!"

No Condor, the radio was broken, and the wings were actually beginning to bend and rattle in the harsh winds.

"Damn it!" he yelled, turning once more to fly in a complete circle, scanning the clouds. Nothing. No sign of the carrier ship, nor any of his friends.

Lightning.

_**Crack.**_

The skimmer sputtered and died. He was lucky that Stork had reinforced the underside of his seat with rubber for just this purpose; otherwise, he'd have been caught in the shock as well.

"That's fine," he told himself, only able to hear himself in his thoughts despite speaking aloud. "I can glide. Gliding's fine. No problem."

The wings bent further, curving, adding to air resistance. One wing eventually gave up and snapped off entirely, spiralling backwards and down. The skimmer wavered, then began to lean to the heavier side. Leaned. Leaned…

Dropped like a stone.

Aerrow couldn't do anything. The storm was rushing into his face from all sides, but after a while it seemed to stop. He opened his eyes when he realised they had been shut, and was surprised by the rain around him. It looked like it was just hanging in space, the individual particles changing shape constantly but yet they looked so still…

No, wait. _I get it. Terminal velocity. My terminal velocity is the same as the raindrops now._

Which meant he was still falling. He looked around, span a little as he continued his freefall, and saw his skimmer a ways below him. Below that, more clouds, which parted occasionally to let him glimpse the Wastelands. No! He didn't want to go out like that!

He cast about for another solution, and remembered his glider wings. He didn't use them, though – not yet. If he opened them now, they'd break in the wind and he'd be falling again without a safety net.

Something caught his eye to the right. He turned once more to see a small terra emerging from the haze. _Yesss!_

He put his arms up, forwards, tilted slightly down, and aimed for the ground. This brought him closer, and the ground was rising to his challenge – fast. He ripped open his wings as soon as he was close enough, and felt the momentary stomach lurch as he adjusted to the new air resistance.

A series of loud snapping noises to his right. A couple more to his left. The bars had mostly broken in the wind. Not good! All that was holding the wings steady were his own hands, clutching for dear life onto the edges and stretching them taut. Like a flying squirrel.

That would have been funny if he'd had time to think it over. As it was, the terra rushed up quickly. He lost his grip on one of the wings, and it immediately flipped behind him, useless and broken. He tilted, just like his skimmer had. Dropped like a rock, almost like his skimmer had – but he had some small control over this. Tried to lean onto the wing side, to slow down.

_**Crack.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Skid to a halt.**_

Everything went black.


	24. Ch23: Fancy Meeting You Here

"Uh…. _Yeah_. I'm picking up Aerrow's skimmer on the radar – and, apparently, it's crash-landed."

The remaining Storm Hawks tensed, and Piper shook her head slowly.

"Are you sure it's crashed? Maybe it just took a nasty bump in the crash and set off the distress signal that way." Finn, being logical for once, was sitting at the table, hunched over the various papers that Piper had left there earlier, and looked… shocked. "I mean, come on. Think about it. A storm can't take down a Storm Hawk. Remember on Terra Saharr?"

Junko didn't seem too convinced, and neither did Piper. Stork was never convinced. No surprise there when he ignored Finn entirely.

"We can get through storms if we deal with them in the right way. With the storm last night, I think the correct response was to… get out of there." She fumbled with a loose thread on the end of her sleeve, giving her hands something to do. "Well, Stork," she began finally, "we should track his coordinates. Get the Condor moving in that direction."

Stork nodded once and took a deep, cleansing breath before pushing heavily on the controls.

Let's see, now. We can safely rule out Helvetian Clawskitchers, it's not the season for them. No other wild, flying animals are known for living round here, though there's the occasional straggler left behind from migration… so that leaves the illnesses you can get from staying in the Wastelands too long, and of course if he's crashed on a terra…

"Got it," he exclaimed. "One point three ticks to the north… not that far away actually, but that's just the skimmer – there's no telling where his _body _might have landed." He continued to voice some of his morbid thoughts, but people had stopped listening already.

-

Aerrow opened his eyes, and immediately shut them again as light burned into his retinas. He managed to ease them open again gradually, and saw the edge of a terra.

"…Huh…?" Even this small noise made his torso move, made the bruises and scrapes all that more noticeable. _I crashed. There was… a storm? _Not too many injuries, though, considering how hard his landing felt. So what was that 'crack' noise when he hit the floor?

The redhead tried to manoeuvre into a sitting position, moving his arm as if to prop himself up, and then convulsed as shocking pain erupted in his arm and blocked out the rest of the injuries. _Agh. That was the crack._

He lay completely still for a short while, recovering, and assessed the rest of his body for other problems.

Both legs seemed okay, but they were aching and sore from being knocked into an odd position curled under him. His other arm was good to go, too, though it had a nasty scrape down one side.

His head was pounding; there was a large lump on his head where he'd hit it, and a cut across his cheek. His torso was fine, though. At the very least. Not much good that would do him right now, though.

"Hey!" A sharp voice sounded.

_Is it a Talon? Is it a pirate? Is it a giant spider – okay, no, I'm getting to be as bad as Stork. Concentrate… _Aerrow managed to flip over onto the side of his good arm, and used that to lever himself up. He turned his head, making himself aware of the debilitating ache in his neck muscles.

"You okay over there?"

It looked like a raptor. Sort of. Only, its snout was longer and skinnier. And it was covered in white scales, rather than green and pale yellow. And the rainbow streak of hair that went all the way under the collar of its lab coat, emerging from under the bottom of the coat over the length of its thin, whiplike tail.

No, it probably wasn't a raptor, come to think of it.

"Wh… wha…?" He felt breathless, probably from shock. But, focusing on the pale blur of the lizard-like thing that was approaching him, he felt like he recognised it…

"Oh jeez, Aerrow! What the hell happened to you?"

He knew that voice.

He could just about remember hearing it along with Authenti's. They had made an annoying pair…

"_Risk,_" he muttered.

The lizard adjusted her glasses over her silvered eyes and gave a thin smile. "You were expecting the broken bone fairy?"


	25. Ch24: All Better! Sorta! ok maybe not

"Let's get you fixed up, kid." She placed a supporting arm around his shoulders, and he grunted in discomfort. She glanced at his arm, then back to his face. "Broken?"

"Mm."

She took more care this time, but still managed to scoop him to his feet in record time. His thigh had a nasty bruise on it that he hadn't noticed before.

"Walk a couple of steps?"

He did so, but only with a slight limp. "It's painful, but… it'll heal."

"Of course it will. You've got me. Now, why don't you tell me what happened while I sort out my medical kit?" He watched her unpack something from a skimmer parked nearby. It had a red cross on the front, and it looked a little like a suitcase; but when she opened it, the inside was all made up of boxes on latticed metal that rose out of the way. She rustled through it, and found bandages.

"Well, we heard a distress call, and it was coming from near here – ow – and there was this huge storm that just sprung up out of nowhere." He flinched away from the lizard's cold fingers, but she put a free hand on his good shoulder and held him still. "My skimmer… the wings started breaking up all over the place and it tipped me off. I tried opening – OUCH – I tried opening my glider wings but they got ripped apart too, so I crash landed here."

Risk finished bandaging his arm, and poked it. He yelped and shot backwards. "You're lucky. If your arm had bent too much I'd have had to force it straight again." Aerrow grimaced at the thought, and she laughed at the horrified expression he showed. "As it is, though, we do need to get you to a hospital. I can't do everything, you know." She flashed him a smile and helped him to her skimmer.

"By the way, Risk."

"M'hm?"

"Why do you have a skimmer and not a heli-scooter?" She looked quizzically at him, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her snout. "I mean, since you're a doctor, wouldn't a heli-scooter be more suited to carrying patients? Plus you could fit more equipment on it…"

"Haha, I see what you mean now. But usually, the 'patients' I find are in pretty bad shape." The smile disappeared from her face. "Time is normally of the essence, and planes are faster than helicopters."

"Huh?"

If she didn't already have milky-white scales, she would have gone pale. "I mean, er. Never mind."

"What's a helicopter?"

"Er." She thought fast. "A nickname… that… Amber… gives to heli-scooters. Ahah. Eh." She could feel his emerald-green eyes piercing the back of her head as he climbed onto the vehicle behind her. "And, eh, it rubbed off on me. I use it a lot now. Haha."

Aerrow wondered who Amber was. Could it have been the 'other person' Authenti mentioned meeting up with during the Dark Ace's recovery?

[-----------------------------------------]

Interlude again! Sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to get this one up. Also, I wanted to go all like "Ooooh, she used a real-world term!" to everyone. So Amber also knows Risk. Big surprise there. =.= No? Ok xD

Well. Their link might be revealed some other time. At the moment, I'm only doing hints to it. Why? Because I'm thinking about writing a separate story, a short one, to explain how Authenti and Risk know Amber.

That sentence was also a hint, in that Authenti and Risk go in the a different category to Amber. Muahaha. Cryptic. :D

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO BLAME SAKARIWOLFE FOR MAKING ME CRASH AERROW INTO THE FLOOR. IT'S ALL HER FAULT. SHE MADE ME DO IT. HAHAHAHAHA

Ok no maybe I did kind of want to do it anyway BUT IT WAS HER IDEA

[-----------------------------------------]


	26. Ch25: Unwitting Role Model

Amber, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. Really. That scowl of complete and utter evil was probably just a mask, to stop herself looking silly. Or something.

…Okay, no. Taking her skimmer for a joyride was one thing, but a journey was entirely different. And this particular journey involved being followed by the skimmer-incompetent Authenti, all the way to the Storm Hawks' carrier ship.

She was a _Cyclonian._ The circular armour plates at her shoulders proved this, as it was one of the standard Talon shoulder guards with the familiar red symbol on them. As soon as Aerrow saw that, he'd flip. She knew he would; she'd talked to him before.

A-ha-ha! And no one else knew about that. She had conversed briefly with the Storm Hawks, when she'd first learned to fly a skimmer and accidentally crashed it into the Condor. Back then, she hadn't been a Cyclonian. She had been considering it, though; the Atmos was a boring place to live and she preferred to be on the side which wouldn't have its citizens killed if they lost. That was the thing about the people who opposed Cyclonia; they stuck to their morals so bloody well.

"Ah! Over there! I think that's them!" Authenti yelled, unnecessarily in the calm, windless sky. "He-ey!" she called, waving. Her skimmer did a barrel roll to the right when she let go of it, due to her own incompetence at holding it steady with one hand. She righted herself and looked physically sick. Amber smirked at her.

"Storm Hawks! I come in peace! Ignore the Talon uniform, it's just a formality." She'd seen Finn with his finger on the trigger; apparently the sharpshooter's good sight had enabled him to see her clearly enough from that far away.

"Whoa. Is that… Authenti?"

"Again? Oh, man. Stork's not gonna like this." Finn's voice, definitely. Amber glanced at the others, trying to remember them by sight.

That was Piper; that was Junko… Aerrow's little midget fuzz-muffin was there too, clinging to Finn's shoulder. She marvelled at her own pet names for things sometimes.

"Where's Aerrow? And the Condor?" Authenti barked, tail lifting to wag slowly as they finally got close enough to stop and hover in mid-air.

"Stork's flying it back there. We need to keep it in the same place – as a marker for where Aerrow… fell." Piper had answered her. She steeled herself. "Um. Anyway, we came out here because we picked up your skimmer…s… on the radar… and we thought you were…" She trailed off uncertainly, eyeing Amber's uniform.

"Cyclonians?"

Silence, except for the quiet rumbling of sky-ride engines.

"It's ok. I'm not carrying any weapons, and I suck at fighting anyway-"

"Do I know you from somewhere, hotness?" Finn grinned charmingly at her. Amber was surprised he'd still manage to flirt with a Cyclonian.

"As a matter of fact, we've met before. I crashed into your ship when I couldn't fly straight. I'm a much better pilot now," she rushed to add, not that it really mattered if she didn't impress anyone.

"Ah! I remember you!" Junko grinned, though he seemed unsure of his own enthusiasm. The Talon outfit was definitely off-putting. "…But… weren't you wearing purple before?"

"Yup. Purple jeans, purple shirt with a bird on it, black shoes with purple stripy laces. Haha. It's one of the few things I can remember about our meeting. Back before I joined Cyclo…nia…ah. Sorry."

They eyed one another for a while.

"Well-p! We should probably land somewhere before our fuel crystals run out!"

"Ah. Yeah." Amber didn't _want _to look at her fuel gauge. She could hear the engine complaining already. She did hate how fast the Switchblades ran out of fuel – one of the few things she envied about Atmosian-make skimmers.

-

"So we can't go back to the Condor? Why not?" Authenti put her head on one side, making herself look almost like a stray puppy who was begging for something.

"Sorry, Auth. It's not that we don't trust you. It's just that… it's been making Stork edgy. Aerrow too, in fact." She didn't seem to understand. "Auth, you were hanging around the Dark Ace! It's hard to even talk to you any more without worrying!" Piper sounded like a parent forbidding its child to talk to a 'bad influence' neighbour.

"Yeah. And it doesn't help that I'm flying the enemy flag now. Imagine what the simple-minded citizens of Terra Atmosia might think?" She paused. Everyone was staring at her. "Er." More stares. "Sorry. Force of habit. Propaganda, and all that malarkey."

"Well, she's still hot," Finn muttered to Junko under his breath. The Wallop gave him a hefty shove and he fell off his parked skimmer, landing roughly on the ground with his hand in a patch of sky-nettles. "_Eeyargh_!"

"…It's okay," Piper sighed, choosing to ignore the Cyclonian's insult. _Well, they _are_ a little shallow. _"Now, to the matter at hand. Why'd you come find us?"

Authenti gave a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed grin and held up a finger (with a dog-like claw on it). "We were hoping to rebuild the whole 'trust' thing." Amber shot her a poisonous look. "I mean… _I_ was hoping to rebuilt the whole 'trust' thing."

Radarr leapt down from Finn's skimmer wing where he had been sitting swinging his legs, watching how things turned out. He growl-chirped angrily at the one in the Talon uniform, and scampered forwards to sniff at her ankles. The scent confirmed it. She was a Cyclonian. No way was he going to- _aaahhh. _The girl was scritching behind his ears in exactly the place that no one could usually find. As soon as she stopped, he'd… he'd… huh? He had lost track of his train of thought. A series of soft vibrating squeaks escaped his throat, and the furball sat down, subdued.

"Basically, I wanted to say sorry. I know the Dark Ace is your enemy, and all, but… well, let's just say he can be a lot calmer outside of battle. Not exactly the nicest guy ever, but-"

"Authenti! He _killed _Aerrow's father!" The outburst shocked everyone into silence, even Authenti. Amber looked up from the blue creature she'd scooped into her arms, ceasing the tickling of his throat for a moment. Piper lost some confidence now that everyone was looking her way, but forged ahead regardless. "He was a traitor to the entire Atmos. Look, all I'm saying is, he's a terrible man, and if you know what's good for you, stay away from him… and _all _Cyclonians. There! I've said it!"

Amber, strangely, didn't seem at all fazed by Piper's harsh words. She merely put Radarr back down carefully and rolled her eyes.

"Heard it all before. But if there's one thing you should know, the social structure in Cyclonia isn't that much different to Terra Atmosia's. People need someone to look up to aside from… do you guys still have a Council thing? Yeah. Master Cyclonis doesn't appear to the public often, and I bet neither do your Council. Atmos has… _had _Carver, of the Red Eagles. The Dark Ace? Well… I wouldn't go so far as to say he has fangirls running after him for an autograph. No one would dare. But…" Her voice was quieter, inaudible to the Storm Hawks gathered around her. A deep breath. "_I look up to him._"

The other humans heard it as a sigh; Radarr and Authenti had much better senses; but Radarr couldn't talk… and Authenti knew not to say anything.

[---]

Extra long because I felt like making up for the last chapter's shortness. 3

[---]


	27. Ch26: The Cat's Out Of The Bag

Amber kicked her sky-ride. It fell over sideways with a loud 'clunk', and the cover over the folded wings fell off it. She facepalmed. Hard.

_I can't deal with this right now,_ she thought, hand still fixed to her face. It swung down to her side, and she kicked the modified Switchblade again before storming out of the house, slamming the door behind it and only pausing to turn and lock the door. Not dramatic enough. She booted the door and shoved the key in her pocket, swerving down the steps onto the street.

Thunder. Rain. She screamed into the busy street, face aimed to the sky. Water fell into her mouth, and she hurried along the pavement knocking people over left, right and centre. They didn't like her much. She was a fairly bad neighbour most of the time. All they heard was the sound of her mechanical work all through the night. She overslept if she had the time to waste, and she didn't talk to anyone unless they made the effort first.

She had returned to Cyclonia in a foul temper. Those Storm Hawks. She'd had enough –

_Slam_! Someone was apparently a lot less willing to let her barge straight through them. She cursed, and stepped back muttering a hasty apology.

Then she looked up, and promptly froze.

The Dark Ace raised his eyes skywards, as if beseeching some invisible entity to give him patience, and stepped round her calmly, continuing down the street. People actually made the effort to get out of his way – not that she'd noticed. She was still standing perfectly still, in shock.

_I'm going to follow him,_ was the first thought that popped into her head. _Wait, where the hell did that come from? _But she felt like doing something spiteful. She admired the Dark Ace… but she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing in the open here. It was right at the edge of the terra, too – her house was back up the road somewhere, but it was dangerously close to the edge. That was apparently why she'd got it so cheap. The building itself was in fairly good condition, but the placement was horrible.

Amber finally turned. She caught sight of him turning a corner. So he was actually _heading _for the edge? A frown knitted her brow and she ran in his wake, slipping behind a detached house and out the alley on the other side, catching up to the powerfully-built man as he cut a path through the regular citizens.

After a while, they reached the edge of the terra. To be honest, Amber wasn't too surprised when he spread his arms and jumped forwards into a dive. She skittered to the edge and looked down. Sure enough, he'd spread the batlike glider wings and was riding the scorching air currents that rose from the Wastelands below. His course changed often, but as she watched, she noticed that he was moving directly to the south-west. Towards an outcrop of mountains.

_Of course. The closest part of the world to Cyclonia that hasn't been explored yet. I should have known he'd have something to do with that._ The blonde girl jerked her head back, blinking. Was that… a flash of light? It looked the colour of the Wastelands magma… but it had only flickered for a second. Or perhaps it had been a trick of the eye?

No. The Dark Ace was heading straight for the place she'd seen the glint of light. There must be a link.

She cast about for another way of following him. There were none, except her skimmer back at her house… and its wing cover had fallen off, rendering the wing-extending circuit useless. She swore again, and raced back to her house to fix it up, hoping luck could be on her side.

-

Less than twenty minutes later, and she'd fixed the wing. It wasn't damaged in the first place – just loose. Her kick had jerked it too much and made it fall off completely.

Less than half an hour later, and she was struggling to keep it airborne.

_I get it. Like in the rim of an active volcano, there's a strong downdraft everywhere except where the Dark Ace found the hot air currents. I have to aim it exactly right… or… _She swallowed. _I'm toast._ _Literally. The lava would fry me._

She considered this as a test. A harsh test, to see if she was Talon material. Yes. That made her feel better.

Now what did she know about volcanoes? She scanned the air around her, squinting. In certain places, there was a hazy effect. Heat. Heated _air_. She aimed for that, and couldn't keep herself from gasping in shock as the skimmer immediately did a somersault. It was like being hit by a geyser crystal from below! She felt more than a little ill as she managed to throw herself forwards, using nothing but her weight and momentum to force the skimmer to stay steady. In a moment, the giddiness was gone, and it was smooth flying. She spotted another two air currents, and between them, the lack of heat suggested a downdraft.

_Here goes. Second time lucky._

-

Eventually, she wasn't sure how, she got there.

And 'there' was a sight to behold.

There was a huge chasm in the mountains, hidden from view by one of the surrounding mountains if you were looking at it from Cyclonia.

The walls of the place seemed like they'd been set on fire a thousand times over, scorched black and sometimes even melted in a few places. She reached out to touch a blackened rock. Soot came off on her finger, and she wiped it on an edge of her skimmer in disgust.

She'd cut the engines as she approached, which would hopefully not alert the Dark Ace to her presence. But avoiding his attention was harder than it seemed. All of a sudden, he seemed to drop out of the sky and land straight on her shoulders, forcing her to the ground in the blink of an eye. She saw the ledge he'd come from, but this didn't help matters at all. His energy blade was already glowing at her neck.

"Why did you follow m-" His voice cut itself off in mid-question. She eased open her eyes a crack. He was staring at her, but he wasn't moving. "…Amber?"

She wanted to break down in tears. Amber was not one who responded well to the pain of being kicked to the ground, nor the feeling that she was about to die… and certainly not to adrenaline.

"…Sir…" She bit her lip gently. People who bit their lip until they bled just irritated her; she didn't see the point, really. "I-I wanted to see i-if I could t-track you," she explained, voice faltering. She felt like kicking herself. What a stupid answer. She sounded like one of the new Talons, still being trained; still making pathetic attempts to gain approval. It didn't work then, and it wouldn't work now.

He gritted his teeth, held the blade a millimetre closer to her throat. Wavered. Stepped back. She raised a hand to her left shoulder where his foot had ground it into the floor painfully, but stayed in her lying position. Afraid of what he'd do to her if she tried to get up.

"That makes ten people this month." He glowered at her, and raised his sword above his head. "Unlucky. I don't hand out prizes."

She screwed her eyes shut, and waited for the blow that would inevitably come. A burst of red light that she could see even with her eyes closed…

…and a deafening roar. A clank of steel. Eyes open. She saw the Dark Ace, sword knocked from his grasp to lie on the floor a little way away, still spinning, slowing down.

Another thunderous cry, and flames behind the silhouette of the man who had tried to kill her.

A head emerged. Neck. Wings. Hooked talons.

She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to…

"You don't want me to kill her?"


	28. Ch27: Here There Be Dragons

_Aerrow awoke to the feel of sheets against his bare skin. Wait, no. They'd left his boxers on. Thank goodness. He wasn't sure how he'd handle being naked in public, sheets or not. Sound began to filter through, swelling, becoming words. He sat up._

"…_send you back soon. We can lend you an escort if you want, but something tells me a Sky Knight won't need one."_

_He rubbed at his eyes with his good arm. "No… I'm good. Thanks." The lizard again. She fits in, here. Everything is white, bright and… well, cheery. Hospitals, unfortunately, tend to have a dismal atmosphere. But this seems to be a private ward. No. He glances at the door as someone exits, and a wisp of fresh air sweeps in. It's an entirely private terra. He's seen the place out of the window. Risk explains it to him._

_She became successful in her doctor's practise, although she only seems to get work from raptors. They trust her more. She looks like them._

_She hoarded her revenue, as raptors are known to (but she's not a raptor) and managed to buy an extremely small and out-of-the-way terra since she last saw the Storm Hawks. Built a tiny hospital on it. Very new, but she's gained favour with Terra Bogaton already for treating those who hurt themselves trying stunts._

"_They can be almost as adrenaline-hungry as the Blizzarians, sometimes," she explains. "Only at certain times of the year, though. Hoverboard tournaments, and the like."_

"_How long was I out?" he interrupts her. Hears the response as he lies back, feeling dizzy._

"_Two days since I brought you here." Something about pneumonia. He blacks out._

Radarr made a very quiet 'mrow' noise, and curled up on Junko's lap. The Wallop stroked the co-pilot's furry back quietly, and glanced around. Everyone seemed subdued. Piper was just sitting in a chair with her head in her hands. She was already over the fact that Aerrow was hospitalised. She was just tired. They all were; they'd been in the hospital all night. Yesterday they'd taken turns, but Risk informed them that thanks to the low-grade Nil stones they'd managed to get hold of, Aerrow should be out tomorrow.

Stork sat moping in the Condor. He'd been in to see Aerrow only once, but… it didn't mean he didn't care. Sure, it was a sterile environment in there. But think of all the _needles._ It was run by a scaly thing in a lab coat. Not a doctor's coat. A _lab_ coat.

She freaked him out.

Risk freaked everyone out.

-

The Dark Ace. _Tired. _He looked it. Almost.

She was tired.

But neither would move. She was lucky. Already lying down.

The Dark Ace cut a dashing figure and all, a black silhouette against the firelight. But couldn't he just… _do _something? Anything at all. Except pick up your sword, please. No, no I said don't –

Amber was uneasy. Naturally. There was a _dragon _staring at her. Staring her down.

_Staring her down. _Something primal awakened in her. She returned its yellow-eyed gaze. Looked into its soul.

It was young. Juvenile. But large. Twice as big as a skimmer at least. Its shoulder was head-height.

"He won't kill you."

Snapped out of it, Amber looked away at the same time that the dragon did. The Dark Ace was wiping the blade clean on his sleeve. Some invisible tarnish that only he could see.

"I… guess not, no." What an odd answer. It was a dragon. They're supposed to be a myth. How could you guess something like that?

No, it had intelligence in its eyes. She knew. She'd seen it.

The fire died down fast, the blackened rocks giving no fuel to burn. The dragon sat down. She expected a tremor, but the dragon was still young and the rocks were too compacted.

She sat up. Shaking. Stood up on legs made of dragon toothpicks. Dizzy. Woozy.

Reached out. A hand on the end of its spiky nose.

_Hrrrr._

Hot breath on her face. It pushed lightly against her hand, moved its head closer, drank in her scent.

The Dark Ace was watching her.

"It… he…" Her voice cracked as if she hadn't had a drink in days. She had. It was just the fear. "…yours?"

Finally. A smile. No, a smirk – but better than no reaction. Made things seem more real.

"Not mine, no. His own. I found him a week after I came to Cyclonia." He didn't put any more detail in than that, but she could fill in the gaps. He took care of the dragon. It grew up with him.

How old must the Dark Ace have been, then? Too young to know better than to try and keep a secret from Master Cyclonis?

She'd have had it enslaved by now if he hadn't managed that. Amber knew for a fact.

There were no words to explain this.

Logic told her she should have fainted already. When that glowing, red, sharp bladehad almost ended her. When the Dark Ace first _saw _her, and pounced. When she landed from the ordeal over the air currents.

Her obsession with finding out how things, how _people _worked kept her going.

"Why?"


	29. Ch28: Encouragement & Making Amends

"I was younger. Foolish." The only answer he would give.

Most of the next ten minutes were spent with Amber just walking round the thing, examining it. Scales. Hard, diamond-shaped scales. Red in colour, with a hint of greenish-black at the tips of the scales. In books, there were other colours than this. Story books elaborated, though. And it had been years since she'd properly looked through her bookshelf.

The dragon sat back on its haunches, torso raised, huge front claws raised to its chest like some kind of oversized meerkat. Tail flicked at the end.

Intelligence in its eyes. It looked serious, though. When the thought 'young dragon' came to her head, she thought of a comical attitude, maybe it'd try to eat her hair or something. Or chase her playfully. But it just sat there, watching her.

"You should go."

Cold words. He turned his back to her, and walked off down the corridor of rock.

The dragon's head twitched, turning, watching him. In a flash, she knew what it was thinking.

_He's not paying attention._

Jaws fastened around one of the metal shoulder guards, and she was hurriedly swung round in an awkward, off-balance fashion until it placed her gently on its back. Just in front of its wings. Her feet either side of its neck.

Wings spread.

Beat hard against the ground.

Too late, the Dark Ace whirled round. Eyes widened in shock as he realised.

It didn't want her to leave.

The world was a blur. Red, black – Wastelands. Black, flashes of glittering lights where the darkness set in and people were switching on the lamps – Cyclonia. A spire into the red skies that were slowly turning black – the citadel.

"No!"

One word, but it held… emotion.

Genuine.

Coming from the Dark Ace.

They'll see you they'll see you they'll see you…

A tail slammed into the chest. Breath knocked out of him. Flicked him expertly up to the dragon's back. He clung on there and managed to sit properly. It knew him too well to worry about him falling off.

Flight levelled off to what would have been a glide, but the wings were still working furiously to pick up speed. A climb. A dip. A swerve. Made a loop in the air. Two. Three. A rush in her ears, and…

"Land. _Now_!"

Anger. Anger, and dread. Strange how the presence of a lifelong friend can make even the hardest heart begin to worry. Friend. He hadn't used that word in the longest time. He remembered a blue uniform.

His hand slipped. He fell.

Amber noticed first. Slender yet somehow _powerful _hands let go of the dragon's hide, willingly, for the first time. Changed position. Placed firmly on the dragon's neck, guiding it, yet not really holding on.

Falling. Freefall. No parachute.

Claws, gripping him.

_Talon._

-

"Mrrr?" Soft, echoing. Like a purr, but with more of a voice to it.

Blood-red eyes opened.

The dragon was curled round him, face held close to his, nudging him.

Had he fallen asleep? It was unlike him to let his guard down like that. Then the memories flooded back.

A simple slip of the hand was all it took. Something inside his head. Thoughts. Terrible thoughts. Doubt. Made him let go, just for a split second. All it took.

"…Augh." He sat up, a hand to his head. Pounding headache. The dream of the Aurora Crystal and the SUV again. He remembered it too well.

Another human. Close. His Talon training kicked in again, and he turned his head sharply. Amber.

"You're awake! Thank goodness. You fell for ages before we… before the dragon could catch you." _If he ever wants to know I was driving, I'll tell him,_ she grinned to herself. "Why did you let go in the middle of a roll like that?"

He fixed her with a steely, hateful look… but it cracked down the middle. He was too tired now. Thinking back, he probably hadn't slept properly for days.

"I slipped." Simple answers. She expected that.

"Hm. Well, you're okay, at least."

"Mm." Headache. Go away, girl. Leave me alone. Where did the part of me that commands respect go?

She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Sir. If you're really okay… I want to show you something. It involves travel, though. And we need to do it soon."

"Leave, Amber. Forget what you saw," he growled, "and leave. Tell anyone, and I'll-"

"_Sir._" Defiance. "Come with me. I would never ask if it wasn't important."

The dragon met her eyes when she refused to look right at the Dark Ace. It saw her for what she truly was: understanding. She knew things about people, and all she did was watch. Didn't get involved. Not usually. Skimmers, mechanics, yes. But people? No way. She was too shy.

This time, though… she was getting over it. She had to, because if she didn't, she wouldn't convince him. The dragon stared deep into her eyes. _Confidence._

She looked away, turned to the Dark Ace; and _stared him down_.

-

Aerrow was fully recovered. Infections were more easily mended by Nil stones than broken bones were. Now he could confirm that from experience. He was dressed, ready to go, when a careful hand touched his shoulder.

Risk held up a message crystal. "From Authenti," she explained. "I think you should hear it."

He hesitated, then nodded and took it from her, tracing the triangular surface. Strange. The wolf never used crystals for anything except what was necessary, like fuel for a skimmer if she wanted to travel.

The others were waiting for him outside; even Stork had emerged from the ship to welcome him back aboard.

They left. Risk had insisted that she didn't need payment for this – not from an old ally. She didn't say 'friend'; they knew she was too cool and collected to say that word aloud. She meant it, though.

Radarr jumped onto his shoulder, but although he welcomed the attention, he shook his head.

"I need a minute." The furry co-pilot was visibly disappointed, but seemed willing enough not to smother Aerrow too much since he'd just got out of hospital.

The redhead snuck into his room on the Condor, and Stork lifted off.

He activated the message crystal. The wolf came into view, although just barely, the shadow of her image dancing across the purple crystal.

"_This thing on? I hope so. Look… I'll give it to you straight. I know you guys don't trust me as much as you did. The Dark Ace is partly responsible for that, but only because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The thing is… his story – your story doesn't end like that. The Dark Ace can't die like that. I don't know how he WILL die, how could I know? But it won't be from a measly crash into the Wastelands. Not one brought on by bad weather._

"_Look, the thing is, I'm not as real as I could be. Maybe some other time, I might explain. But for now, I'm disappearing again. You know how I pull those vanishing acts from time to time and don't show up again for ages. Yeah. At least I'm giving you fair warning this time._

"_Promise me you'll forget about me, Amber… and Risk… until we pop up somewhere again."_

What could that mean? He'd just seen Risk… and Amber was in Cyclonia now, wasn't she? No time to think about it. The wolf began speaking again.

"All three of us are in this together. You don't know Amber too well, but she's actually the mastermind. Even though she's a kid at heart. We're all disappearing for a while."

Awkward silence.

"Well, see ya."

A proud salute. The message crystal finished its job. Aerrow was left thinking about the wolf's speech. Nothing seemed to make sense.

Then again, Authenti never made sense.

[---]

Not the final chapter! It'll probably be chapter 30, since we're close to it and it's a nice round number.

So… yeah. A cryptic message. Confusing. But it's meant to be.

Maybe I'll explain it all in the final chapter. Maybe not.

[---]


	30. Ch29: Ending It All

The Dark Ace was suspicious of her. They'd already flown nine whole ticks off the map. What was she planning?

There was a valley ahead. He thought he'd seen it before she did, but looking down, he noticed she was pointing her skimmer straight for it already.

She didn't talk much. This added to his feeling of unease. But somehow there was a feeling of calm in there, too. Somewhere.

"What's down there?" he asked, feeling the dragon beneath him ease to the left to better follow Amber's path.

She didn't answer, but just made a typical Captain's signal for them to land in the valley. The fact that he wasn't on a skimmer, but instead on a magnificent beast with teeth and claws that probably shouldn't exist, didn't seem to faze her. She had her mind set on something.

They touched down, and dismounted. The Dark Ace couldn't help one last regretful look at the dragon. It had been a while since he'd been able to fly with it, and although he knew he'd be taking the same method back to Cyclonia, he knew it could be a long time until he'd see the beast again after that.

"Come on. It's through here."

"According to my calculations," he stated distantly, "we're almost ten ticks away from the charted map. Anything could be out here."

"Be on your guard, then," she answered simply; "but I've been here before." Not surprising. She'd made a beeline for this exact spot as soon as they flew over the mountainous boundary.

The blonde girl slipped round a corner of rock, which he noted was towering precariously above them in a ravine that somewhat resembled the dragon's roost – but much smaller. There was only room for one person at a time to go through, and then just barely. This single-file line was unfamiliar; he could only remember leading one before, never following.

"Through here." She pointed to a place in the rock where the chasm widened to make room, and the ground was rough-surfaced. There were signs of a scuffle in the loose dust and rocks, but it only looked like someone had tripped over. He glanced up. There was a huge arch in the clearing. It looked naturally-formed, although he'd never seen nature do something this perfectly before.

Amber stepped through it, shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

The landscape changed.

-

There was… green. Everywhere. Lush green grass, flowers… a giant meadow, and a hill at the end of it that peaked in the centre of the horizon. It had a huge oak tree on it. Everything smelled sweet.

The Dark Ace gave a 'pfft' of disdain as the scent found its way into his head and lingered there.

Authenti and Risk were there already. The wolf dropped down from the tree and said something to the lizard, but neither turned round. Risk was sitting at the top of the hill with her feet dangling off the edge. So was there a cliff there?

The sky was grey, and a chill wind blew past – nay, straight through him. He shivered involuntarily. The grass whispered around his feet, and he looked down.

He was wearing blue.

"What manner of – what did you do?" he demanded, trying to shout. But his voice came out as a whisper. Something in the air?

"I didn't do anything. It's a mix of our memories. It should have blue skies, it should be a lot brighter than this, and you shouldn't be able to feel anger. But you've changed it." He stared at her face, trying to see accusation there. There was none. "I should have known this would happen, but… it doesn't matter. It's still beautiful."

His own willpower forced him to look round, take in the sights. It was breathtakingly beautiful, as she'd said.

Wait… was that _his_ thought?

"Come on." He'd stopped. He wasn't sure why. She took his hand, and suddenly he felt like he did the day before his… betrayal. Confused. Uncertain. Slowly gaining confidence. Unwittingly, the Dark Ace let the girl lead him to the top of the hill, up the incline.

Authenti was sitting beside Risk now, and they were looking out over… something.

Nothing.

It was just greyness. Sky below, sky ahead, sky all round. The meadow ended here.

"What…?"

"Part of my memories. The part where it breaks off, because people from your world aren't allowed to see."

_My world?_

Amber let go of his hand, and approached the two _parts of her._ They stood up, beside her, and suddenly Amber was the only one there. The two unrealistic sides of her had vanished.

For the first time since he'd seen this girl, he realised she looked complete. There was something missing before. Precision and calmness. This was clearly Risk's personality. And then the spontaneous smile on her face, and the fact that she looked as if she could suddenly do whatever she wanted as long as it benefited her. Authenti.

"I thought them up. They're both figments of my imagination," she explained half-heartedly. She knew he wasn't really listening. "You'll forget everything about all three of us, after this. Everyone will, everyone who's ever met any of the three split parts of me. The Storm Hawks. The pirates. The raptors of Terra Bogaton. Some guy from the Wayside. The waitress from the Skyside Shanty." She listed them off one by one, and then let her voice die away.

"How is that possible? …wha-" He stopped. His voice was different. Innocent.

He pulled awkwardly at the sleeve of his old Storm Hawks uniform. Picked at the badge in confusion. His sword was gone.

"Strips everyone down to their bare innocence. It won't last. You'll forget everything," she repeated. He paid close attention. She was about to jump. He lunged for her-

-

Woke up in a cold sweat. That dream about the crystal and the SUV again.

It still made him hateful.

-

"…s? Guys?"

"What, Stork?" Aerrow stared down at his hands in confusion. Looking around, he realised everyone was feeling the same way. Dizzy. Lost.

"There are some Cyclonians approaching." He paused. "And I think we've got mindworms. Me at least. And probably the rest of you are infected too."

-

"Sir, did we just…?"

"What, kid?"

"…Never mind." The guard sighed and leant against the wall again. He was too young for this. He suspected Master Cyclonis had done something with crystals and probably it had affected the clocks everywhere. They weren't synchronising with the Timepulse any more. They couldn't be, right? They were a whole week slow.

"It's happened before." The older man gave a reassuring smile. The younger guard was convinced. "Nothing to worry about."

He was the only person in Cyclonia – the only person in the entire world – who knew what had just happened.

_Amber reset it all._

[---]

Confusing, huh? Don't worry. It's supposed to be.

Basically, Amber is me. Authenti and Risk are different parts of my personality, embodied. That place that the Dark Ace went to was inside my head.

The guard who remembers Amber… he's a secret.

No one remembers them – they're gone, right?

There's one more chapter on the way.

It'll confuse the hell out of you.

[---]


	31. Ch30: This Is The Beginning Of Something

Stork twitched and incessantly checked the radar. He'd done this for five minutes, since he first gave the cry of "There's a skimmer approaching, and it's not anyone we know!"

Aerrow wasn't too worried. It was probably someone they knew, but with a skimmer they _didn't _know.

Until of course he looked out of the window when it was pretty much hovering in front of them.

A grey wolf sat on the skimmer. She looked like a Blizzarian, only with shorter ears and a longer tail and different face and different… okay well she didn't look all that much like one really.

She was wearing a pink shirt with a red heart on it, and a pair of jeans that were rolled up and stitched to stay like that just where her heels were. Her hair was long, and a sky-blue colour; it changed colours when you looked at it from different angles, and when it caught the light. Sort of metallic-looking.

Her eyes were a piercing amber.

She was cleared for a landing on the hangar runway. She crashed… again? Where had that thought come from?

Everyone there had a strange feeling of déjà vu. No one was going to say anything, though. No one knew that they weren't the only one who had that feeling.

Elsewhere, Risk was purchasing medical supplies. Just in case. They weren't staying long this time. They had two hours to do what they wanted to do, and then they were gone for good.

Somewhere in Cyclonia, a blonde girl stepped out of an alleyway. She was smiling in a way that suggested she knew more than anyone else in the street. No one paid her any mind. She didn't care. She had bigger fish to fry.

_Loop,_ whispered the space around her. _Continuum._

_One last chance to lead a team. One last chance to make your mark. This time, no reset button. Authenti and Risk will vanish._

_You'll stay._

_You will lead a team._

_Last chance._

She wasn't put off. She was making a different path this time.

_Last chance._

[---]

Short, but… it fits. It confuses everyone, but it fits.

Amber reset everything. Authenti meets the Storm Hawks for the first time again, and for the last time ever. Risk just enjoys the view for a change, rather than getting involved in Atmos again. She's not going to be careless though.

There will be no more Authenti and Risk – _indefinitely _– but Amber will definitely show up again in the Storm Hawks universe. I think this time she'll be a sky knight. She needs to think it over first though, and get out of Cyclonia before anyone starts to ask questions.

Not a standard sky knight. She'll retain Authenti's neutrality… but she'll have the Council's reluctant yet legally valid backing.

Good luck getting the point of this story. I didn't write it for a reason.

[---]


End file.
